Ex-WPXI anchor Darieth Chisolm victorious in revenge porn case
After two years of waging an international court case against revenge porn, former WPXI news anchor Darieth Chisolm can claim victory.
Chisolm’s ex-boyfriend, Donovan Powell, 53, of Jamaica pleaded guilty in Jamaican court to three charges related to distributing nude pictures of the journalist, according to The (Jamaica) Gleaner.
The charges fall under the country’s four-year-old Cybercrimes Act. Powell was accused of creating a website where he posted nude pictures of Chisolm along with derogatory comments.
In a Monday Instagram post, Chisolm rejoiced.
“I step out of the court room in Jamaica today with a sense of relief, extreme gratitude, excitement for what’s next…” she wrote. “I learned that mine was the first case of its kind setting history and precedence in Jamaica for an American citizen to bring charges under their Malicious Communications Act and Cyber Crimes.”
Chisolm, during a speech in Pittsburgh last summer, said Powell took the photos while she was sleeping.
In addition, she said Powell threatened to kill her — either by shooting her or stabbing her through the heart.
“This began for me, months of pain, and depression and anger, and confusion and silence,” said Chisolm, who has become an anti-harassment activist through her website, 50 Shades of Silence.
She laments that the United States is lagging behind in criminalizing revenge porn, only having one federal bill called “The Enough Act,” which could “take years to pass.”
The bill was proposed by 2020 presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.
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