Keep your sex lives in the bedroom and not on camera.
This was the advice given by Therese Ho, the 24-year-old former girlfriend of T&T and West Indies cricketer Lendl Simmons after she awarded $150,000 in compensation in her lawsuit against him for disseminating photographs of them engaged in a sexual encounter after their brief relationship ended in 2013.
The case, the first of its kind to be heard by local courts, is expected to be used as a precedent for other victims seeking recourse against people who leak their personal photos on the Internet.
Speaking at her lawyers’ office at Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, an emotional Ho warned: “Don’t take pictures. Don’t trust anyone. Both men and women must stop. There must be an end to it.”
Asked about her decision to file the lawsuit knowing that her personal relationship would be exposed in the public, Ho said she took the difficult decision with her two young daughters in mind.
“As a mother of two young girls, it is my duty to ensure that they will grow up in a place where a woman and her character is not under attack by those around her...Women shouldn’t be smeared because of a ruined relationship or something that went sour,” Ho said.
Asked if she felt the compensation awarded by Justice Frank Seepersad in the landmark judgment was sufficient, Ho said no.
“Honestly, no amount of money, none whatsoever, would be able to compensate me for all the trials and tribulations that I have gone through. Up to this day my kids ask me, ‘mummy we saw you in the papers and we know what it was about because we looked it up in the dictionary?’ So now I have the challenge where I would need to sit down and speak to them when they get a little older and explain exactly what happened to me,” Ho lamented.
Despite her warnings and her own traumatic experience, Ho maintained she did not regret her relationship with Simmons or for allowing him to take the photographs.
“I wouldn’t say I regret because what has happened to me has made me a stronger person. It has taught me strength and forgiveness and has strengthened me to be a better person,” Ho said as she claimed she had forgiven Simmons for his actions.
“At this stage I do find forgiveness and have reached the stage now where I am willing to let go and forgive him for what he has done.”
She also called on the Government to take steps to amend legislation to consider revenge porn and other forms of harassment on social media.
Ho filed the lawsuit last year after Simmons sent a series of photographers to a group of her friends. The lawsuit centered around whether Simmons breached the confidentiality of their relationship by releasing the photographs.
In his defence, Simmons had claimed that there was no confidentiality attached to their relationship, which he deemed “strictly sexual” and admitted that he only decided to send the photos after she (Ho) had sent them to his then fiance and now wife.
In his 18-page judgement, Seepersad rejected Simmons’ claims and ruled that he believed Ho’s versions of the events over Simmons’. He also questioned why Simmons did not ask his wife to testify to buttress his case, as she would be able to attest to whether Ho began disseminating the photos, thus absolving him (Simmons) of some responsibility.
“The behaviour of the defendant cannot be condoned and demonstrated a flagrant disregard for the feelings, emotion and dignity of the claimant with whom he shared sexual relations. The Court was alarmed by the manner in which the defendant viewed the claimant as an object and his statement as contained in the messages that “she was just a ‘f---’ ” is unacceptable.
“The treatment of women as mere objects of pleasure is offensive, derogatory, antiquated, has no place in a civilised society and is indicative of the general lack of respect,” Seepersad said.
As he scolded Simmons for his actions, Seepersad said his conduct was especially bad because of his role as an international sportsman.
“It is rather unfortunate that a young and talented cricketer like the defendant behaved in such a manner. Upon the shoulders of those who hold positions of power, prestige and publicity there rests an onerous responsibility to adhere to the highest standards of moral and civilised conduct, especially since the nation’s children look towards them to set the standard of acceptable conduct,” Seepersad.
As part of his ruling, Seepersad issued an injunction stopping Simmons from further disseminating the photos and ordered that the copies used in the case be immediately destroyed.
Seepersad noted that he was forced to interpret archaic local laws in an attempt to find a just result in the case as revenge porn was not covered in any local legislation.
“The instant case reinforces this court’s belief that it cannot confine itself to a myopic view of the law and in the absence of legislative protection, the common law concept of breach of confidence has to be moulded so as to address modern societal demands,” he said.
Stating that local laws were slow to evolve with the increased use of social media internationally, Seepersad suggested that Parliament should put cyber crime laws high on their legislative agenda.
“Photographs uploaded onto the Internet can be retrieved forever. The impact upon an individual’s privacy is tremendous and the absence of clear and cohesive legislation to protect our citizens’ privacy and to punish those who violate the rights of others can cause us to descend into a bottomless pit of anarchy...The time for legislative intervention is long overdue,” Seepersad said.
Ho was represented by Lemuel Murphy, Naveen Maraj and Christian Chandler, while Ken Wright appeared for Simmons. Simmons has to weeks to decide whether he will appeal the judgment.