TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Canadian man was handed a five-month prison term on Oct. 15 for posting a pornographic video of his former Taiwanese girlfriend online after their breakup and without her permission.
Prior to the incident, the plaintiff, a Taiwanese woman surnamed Wen (溫), had been in a relationship with the defendant, a Canadian national identified with the pseudonym "Baxter," reported UDN. In February of 2019, Baxter shot a video of them having sex in a hotel in Kaohsiung.
According to the court judgment, after the couple broke up, Baxter uploaded the video to the free pornographic website Pornhub, with the title 'XXX Date with Asian XXX' for the public to view and post comments on, reported ETtoday. The video quickly went viral, and Wen realized that her personal privacy had been violated.
When she discovered the video, she notified the police and filed a lawsuit against Baxter. According to court documents, Baxter confessed to the crime, expressed remorse, and tried to reconcile with Wen.
However, mediation talks between the two sides broke down over monetary compensation. The court ruled that Baxter had posted the video out of dissatisfaction over the breakup and violated the Personal Information Protection Act (人資料保護法) through the "illegal use of personal data by a non-government agency."
Taking into account Baxter's criminal motive, use of deception, the harm inflicted, his monthly income of NT$65,000 (US$2,267), his child, and lack of a college degree, the Taipei City court handed him a five-month sentence, which can be commuted to a fine of NT$150,000 (US$5,200).
According to the judgment, foreigners who have been sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment more than once may be deported after a sentence has been served. However, since Baxter has not committed any other crimes in Taiwan and there is no evidence to prove that he will endanger society, he will not face deportation.