A 19-year-old man is facing more than two years in prison for threatening his girlfriend and sharing images of her. Prosecutors said his case serves as a lesson for teens across the region.
Threatening someone, nefariously using their image and manipulating them to gain control are all markers of an abusive relationship, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Those actions led a judge to sentence the 19-year-old from D.C. to two and a half years in prison. While the unnamed man and his girlfriend were 17 years old at the time, prosecutors said he threatened to kill her before killing himself in a series of texts, saying if he couldn’t have her, no one could.
The teen also sent sexually explicit videos of the girl to her mom, her co-worker and her friend in an act of revenge porn, prosecutors said.
“As a result of the defendant’s threats, the 17-year-old’s family obtained a civil protection order against the defendant. Despite this protection order, the defendant continued to attempt to contact the minor victim,” D.C. prosecutors said in a release.
He has been in prison since his arrest in June 2022. The prosecutors office confirms he was tried as an adult, but his name is not being released to protect the identity of the victim.
Anyone seeking help can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7283 or text ‘START’ at 88788.
