Exploration of Prosecutor Experiences with Non-consensual Pornography

ABSTRACT

There are several challenges facing criminal justice stakeholders with the emergence of this form of criminality, aptly termed “nonconsensual pornography.” The current study will examine the management and experiences of a newer form of cybercrime, non consensual pornography, by an imperative category of criminal justice stakeholders: county and district prosecutor offices in the United States. With data collected from electronic surveys, this exploratory study will investigate the frequency these offices are experiencing nonconsensual pornography cases, and any significant factors that affect the sanctions administered by the court system. Results indicated prosecutor offices experienced revenge pornography crimes more so than any other form of nonconsensual pornography. In addition, the results from both quantitative models indicated more years of practice of law in a current state increased the likelihood of revenge pornography cases prosecuted receiving a sanction of incarceration and/or fine.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

¹ During the preparation of this manuscript in February 2020, there was no federal legislation prohibiting nonconsensual pornography.

² This study was approved by the first author’s affiliated university’s Institutional Review Board.

³ Not all of the prosecutors’ offices provided an e-mail address as a method of contact. In addition, some of the e-mail addresses were not functional and resulted in an auto-return message.

⁴ The response rates for each region were as follows: Northwest region (11.88%), Southwest region (14.74%), Midwest region (7.49%), Northeast region (14.01%), and Southeast region (4.68%).

⁵ Logistic regression models were run on the sextortion variables with no resulting significant findings.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Catherine D. Marcum

Catherine D. Marcum is a professor and the assistant chair in the Department of Government and Justice Studies at Appalachian State University.

George E. Higgins

George E. Higgins is a professor in the Department of Administration of Justice at the University of Louisville.

Tsung Martin Tsai

Tsung Martin Tsai is a doctoral student at the University of the New Haven.

Jeffrey Sedlacek

Jeffrey Sedlacek graduated with his Master of Public Administration from Appalachian State University.