THE TRINIDAD EXPRESS is reporting that West Indies Cricketer Lendl Simmons has been ordered to pay TT$150 000 (BDS$47 393) in compensation for leaking sexually explicit photographs of Therese Ho, an account executive with whom he had an affair.
The ruling was handed down in the Hall of Justice, Port of Spain on Monday, by Justice Frank Seepersad who said there was a disturbing trend to immortalise almost every facet of daily life by taking photographs and uploading them unto social media sites.
“Such activity should also be cautiously reviewed, since the material that is posted may cause a serious compromise to the subject’s personal security as profilers and deviants can predict movements and patterns of behaviours,” he said.
According to the report, during the sexual relationship between Simmons and Ho, several photographs were taken by them, some of these photographs depicted Ho nude and two of the photographs depicted her engaged in fellatio with Simmons. After their relationship ended some of the photos were allegedly shown to other people, and as a result, Therese Ho filed action, seeking an injunction restraining Simmons from disseminating the photos.
She also asked that the photos be destroyed, and sought compensation for breach of confidence, and aggravated damages.
Ho, a 24-year-old mother of two, testified that during her relationship with Simmons, which stated in March 2013, she took nude photos of herself and sent them via WhatsApp to Simmons phone for his private use when he was out of the country.
She testified that she was aware that Simmons was living with ‘Kabrina’ who was the mother of his daughter but she said Simmons told her that it was just an arrangement of convenience.
Eventually, she stated that she had concerns over the future of their relationship and ended it. Her evidence was that after the relationship ended she felt obligated on a moral level to inform Kabrina of her relations with Simmons. This disclosure, she said, was met by a violent reaction from Simmons who then distributed the photos to several people close to her including the father of her youngest daughter, her friends, as well as to some of his own friends. The purpose of this disclosure she says was to embarrass and shame her.
Ho also testified that notwithstanding attempts by her and her friends to plead with the Defendant for him not to distribute the photos, Simmons was intent on destroying her and did so by distributing them. As a consequence, Ho said she was subjected to public ridicule and embarrassment and she suffered from suicidal thoughts and became frustrated as she had to live in shame.
The Express said the judge found that when Simmons testified, he did not dispute that he had sexual relations with Ho but denied that they were “in a relationship”. Simmons said that at all times they were both involved with other persons, he with Kabrina and she with Kasi. He stated that he sent some of the photos to Kasi but that this was done only after Ho had shown some of the photos to Kabrina.
Justice Seepersad found that the thrust of Simmons’ defence was that it was Ho who breached any confidentiality that existed in relation to the photos when she showed them to Kabrina and he said she did this as she wanted to disrupt his family life because he had ended the sexual relations that they enjoyed.
The judge noted that in Trinidad, no action can be founded based on the failure to respect the privacy of a person.
“Given the rapid pace with which the face and fabric of the society has changed and cognizant of the infinite reach of social media, it cannot be denied that the privacy of the person is under attack and there is dire need for the enactment of statute to afford protection for citizen’s personal privacy”. (NB)
