Man Faces Charges for Posting Indecent Photo of Ex-Girlfriend on WhatsApp

When his girlfriend ghosted him after borrowing money and his attempts to get the funds returned failed, Brian Antonio Hinds posted an indecent photo of her on his WhatsApp “to get her to come back”.

Appearing in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on Friday, the 38-year-old general worker of Worrell Avenue, Hill Road, St Michael, pleaded guilty to using a tablet to send an indecent photograph, intending to cause distress or anxiety to the woman on December 27.

Prosecutor Sergeant Randolph Boyce told the court that the accused and the complainant had been in an intimate relationship when the woman borrowed money from Hinds and assured him that she would repay him in a timely manner. She failed to do so.

After threatening to post naked pictures of her, Hinds posted a photo of male and female genitalia on his WhatsApp with her name displayed. The complainant went to the police who told Hinds to “cease and desist”, and he removed the picture.

Later, on December 27, the woman was scrolling through her cell phone and saw that the accused had the same picture displayed on his WhatsApp account, this time with her face visible and her name attached. She again went to the police who arrested and charged Hinds.

Apologising for the pain caused, Hinds said that the complainant used to come by him “night after night” but after she borrowed the money, began to hide from him, avoid his phone calls and make excuses as to why she had not paid him back.

“My emotions get the better of me…. It was not to cause harm but I wanted to get she to come back over and let we do we things again like we used to do,” Hinds told Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes.

“Wait? You posted a private picture of her to get her to come back to you?” Weekes asked.

The accused replied in the affirmative and said he put it on his WhatsApp display but blocked all others except her from viewing it to see “if she come off that mentality and would come back and shout me”.

Magistrate Weekes lamented there were many Barbadians sending and receiving pictures in breach of the Computer Misuse Act.

“I am not saying everyone, but the percentage is growing of Barbadians who are readily accepting smut and not strong enough to tell people, ‘don’t send that to me’. You are in a relationship with a woman that you claim to care about. You believe she may have been playing games with you. That is her right. You, as the better man, should have cut ties and moved on. You were spoken to by the police and warned that was wrong and in your folly, you decided that you would embarrass this lady,” he stressed.

According to Weekes, the women’s organisations in Barbados “have work to do”.

“A lot of these young women keep recording their private sexual business and allowing men to do it. Even women in same-sex relationships are putting pictures out there…. What happens behind closed doors should remain behind closed doors!” he added.

The chief magistrate then remanded Hinds into custody until next Tuesday.