Earlier this month, Republican candidate for the Virginia Legislature David Owen sent out thousands of mailers to VA voters containing screenshots of his opponent, Susanna Gibson, engaging in sex acts with her husband. The Virginia GOP also sent screenshots to the Associated Press, presumably in an attempt to dash the Democratic candidate’s chance of winning the election.
The mailers contained a warning that read “Explicit Material Enclosed” and “18+ ONLY.” The screenshots, which were leaked in September of this year, depicted Gibson on a livestream and contained quotes from the candidate requesting that viewers pay money for specific acts. Gibson’s statement in response to the mailers and media leak indicates that she is not intimidated by the GOP’s underhanded (not to mention illegal) move, and that she intends to continue business as usual with her campaign.
“It won’t intimidate me and it won’t silence me, my political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they’re willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there’s no line they won’t cross to silence women when they speak up.”
The dissemination of “revenge porn,” or the nonconsensual distribution of pornography, is not federally regulated, but every state has a statute addressing it. In Virginia, spreading revenge porn a class 1 misdemeanor, which can carry a 12-month prison sentence and/or a fine of up to $1,200.
Despite making the decision to mail out thousands of lewd and nonconsensual images of his opponent, David Owen released a statement, saying “I’m sure this is a difficult time for Susanna and her family, and I’m remaining focused on my campaign.”
This is an interesting choice of words, as it contains no apology or admission of wrongdoing. The House Democratic Caucus came to Gibson’s defense, however, and called the mailers “a desperate attempt to distract and deflect,” and that “The VA GOP can’t be trusted and this continues to make that clear.”
(featured image: Bilanol/Getty Images)
