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An art student was arrested for creating “revenge porn” after she included a photograph of her ex-boyfriend’s naked torso in her university project.
According to reports, Lauren Smith (26) from Gainsborough in the UK was arrested after uploading her artwork to Facebook.
The piece, which was awarded a first and published on her artwork Facebook page, included a “heavily-cropped photograph” of her former flame, The Telegraph reports.
Lauren was charged with disclosing a private, sexual photograph with intent to cause distress – also known as “revenge porn”.
Even though his face had been cropped out of the picture, the ex-boyfriend said it was him and he was “embarrassed” by the artwork, according to The Sun.
But Lauren, a Lincoln University student, has since been cleared after pleading not guilty.
“This image has had everything done to ensure the identity isn’t revealed,” the judge said.
“Nowhere in the artwork does it refer to him or that it was him. If he believes it is him, it is not an offence if it's only him that thinks it was him. How does anyone else know it is?”
Speaking after the court proceedings, Lauren welcomed the judgment.
“I am glad the offence is there because people do do that. It’s like having a safety blanket if anyone does anything like that,” she said, as quoted by The Mirror.
“But mine just wasn’t like that. I was just making art and this case is not what the offence is there for.”
Sources: The Telegraph, The Sun, The Mirror
