Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski stood with Senator Monica Martinez and advocates from around the State at the Capitol in Albany to call for the passage of their legislation that looks to end cyber sextortion (A.4466A/S.4345A). The bill expands on legislation that Assemblyman Zebrowski authored and passed as a part of the 2018-19 state budget that established a new crime of sexual coercion known was “sextortion.” This new legislation addresses the rapid growth of technology that allows sexual predators to use various forms of social media to target victims, forcing them to create and send intimate, personal information and content.

Under current New York State law, there is no clear legal path to hold cyber sextortion perpetrators accountable, whether it be someone known personally to the victim or a faceless online predator. It has become increasingly necessary for direct and effective statutory language that will give prosecutors needed tools to charge predators in a manner that reflects the sexual nature of the abuse.

Cyber sextortion is not only a violation of a person’s privacy, it is sexually motivated and causes victims the same harms as other forms of sexual abuse. The many victims of cyber sextortion, male and female, live in fear throughout their entire lives because it is impossible for them to know when and where their images will surface.

Assemblymember Ken Zebrowski said: “It is imperative that we continue to respond to the rapidly evolving technology in our society. The countless avenues available in every new social media allows this abhorrent practice to grow and affect many. It is time that New York steps up to ensure that we are protecting our most vulnerable and giving them the tools to take control and seek justice.”

Senator Monica R. Martinez said: “It has become increasingly more important to speak about sex crimes to ensure victims will speak out and no longer be silent. This legislation will prevent intimate images from being used against a partner to coerce them into acts of sexual performance. Any individual who commits this egregious act will face a charge of a sexual offense in the second degree. This important piece of legislation is an extension of the tireless efforts by advocates and myself to protect individuals from having their personal and intimate relationships threatened when circumstances are no longer desired or safe. We cannot, and will not tolerate our personal bodies being used against us.”

Jennifer Becker, Deputy Legal Director and Senior Attorney for Legal Momentum, said: “Sexual extortion is not a new form of abuse, but it has proliferated with the growth and increased accessibility of technology and social media. Until we raised the national consciousness on this issue several years ago, most states did not have criminal laws that gave law enforcement and prosecutors the tools needed to hold sextortion offenders accountable. Although New York addressed half of the problem by criminalizing coerced and extorted sex in 2018, it did not criminalize coerced and extorted sexually explicit images. Many of the victims of sextortion – disproportionately young women – are targeted online and coerced into creating and sending sexual images in what often becomes a long, harmful cycle of abuse. New Yorkers are currently without recourse to hold these offenders accountable.”

Connie Neal, Executive Director of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said: “Domestic violence offenders are becoming increasingly savvy in using technology to abuse victims. Many threaten victims with the release of their intimate images unless they comply with their demands. Because New York doesn’t expressly prohibit cyber sextortion, prosecutors and courts are often limited in their ability to bring offenders to justice. It’s time for the Legislature to step up and pass this critical bill so domestic violence victims are protected from this tactic of abuse.”

Honorable Judy Harris Kluger, Executive Director of Sanctuary for Families, said: “As one of the leading providers of services to survivors of gender-based violence in New York, Sanctuary for Families too often sees victims who are coerced into producing and/or sharing intimate images. As attorneys and advocates for survivors of sex trafficking, domestic violence, and related forms of gender violence, we have seen the use of coercion to induce the production of intimate images which are then used to degrade, humiliate, intimate, and threaten our clients. This widespread and easily exerted form of abuse has been recognized nationally as a growing problem. New York’s current sexual extortion statute is unfinished, lacking a provision to criminalize this coercive behavior. Unless law enforcement is furnished with the tools and resources necessary to fully prosecute this evolving form of gender-based violence, these victims will never know true justice. Sanctuary for Families strongly supports the New York Sexual Extortion Amendment Bill,” said Hon. Judy Harris Kluger, executive director of Sanctuary for Families.

Michael Polenberg, Vice President of Government Affairs for Safe Horizons, said: “Safe Horizon, the nation’s largest non-profit victim assistance organization, is proud to support legislation sponsored by Assembly Member Kenneth Zebrowski and State Senator Monica Martinez that would help protect New Yorkers from the proliferation of cyber sextortion. Specifically, the legislation would ensure that the production or dissemination of intimate images would be included under coercion in the 2nd degree. Currently, the statute only covers forcing someone to engage in a sex act; it does not cover the release of related images or video designed to intimate or extort the victim. A.4466-A/S.4345-A is a common-sense solution that helps ensure that New York’s law keep pace with the use of technology to cause harm to victims.”