A 37-year-old Hartford man is accused of extorting thousands of dollars from his ex-girlfriend after threatening to post a sex tape the two created.
Police said Tanoro Edwards went as far as posting the video online and removing it when he allegedly received payments.
In 2015, the Connecticut legislature remedied a gap in the law to address revenge porn, when private moments are made public online.
"As of October 2015, it's a misdemeanor in the state of Connecticut and it's for the unlawful dissemination of graphic or nude images of one person without their consent to the harm of the person, who the image is made of," attorney Ryan McGuigan, of Rome McGuigan P.C., said.
Edwards is accused in a case of revenge porn from October 2015 through last August.
"That particular case involved straight up extortion -- where one party is saying 'I'm going to disseminate this, and this is going to affect you negatively in public and I want to get paid for it'," McGuigan, who is familiar with the case, added.
Investigators said the victim had evidence of text messages, 72 Western Union transfers and was even paying the suspect's cell phone bill. The alleged payouts totaled to more than $10,000.
Officers said Edwards added and removed the clip from an amateur porn site depending on payments he received from the victim.
"People see these images and hear these stories, and often like all of us, they think it can't happen to them -- can't happen to you. First thing is to not create images you don't want out in the public," attorney Bruce Raymond said.
Raymond, who oversees the Connecticut office of Shafer Glazer, said he received calls and consultations addressing revenge porn cases.
"There are civil remedies Connecticut recognizes as invasion of privacy. There is also defamation, if people try to create a derogatory image," Raymond said.
But getting people to follow the law can be a challenge, Raymond said.
"It can come down to things like who has copyright rights under the law," Raymond said.
Attorneys said this unfortunate case sparks some difficult conversations parents need to have with their children about potential consequences these tapes may have.
