First revenge porn lawsuit filed in Sask. court

A Saskatchewan woman is suing her ex-lover in what appears to be the province’s first revenge porn civil lawsuit.

The woman, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, is suing Daylan Heidel for posting intimate images of her online — and allegedly attaching her name and home community to some of the images.

Heidel is currently serving an 18-month sentence behind bars after pleading guilty to posting and distributing intimate images online of four different women.

In the statement of claim filed in Saskatoon’s Court of Queen’s Bench, the woman alleges Heidel shared her image on several pornographic websites — including PornHub, where an image of her was viewed more than 1.5 million times according to a counter on the website.

The suit said the inclusion of her name in the posts was “calculated to cause damage” to the woman.

It also alleges Heidel continued to post images of the woman online after he was charged by police and released on bail.

Sean Sinclair, the lawyer representing the woman, told 650 CKOM in an interview Thursday he believed the suit was the first to be filed under the province’s new law allowing women to sue over their intimate images being shared online.

“There’s not a lot of developed case law in Saskatchewan on this,” Sinclair said.

He said the sharing of the images has negatively impacted his client’s mental health. The lawsuit is seeking financial damages to be determined by the court.

But Sinclair said the court action is about more than money.

“She is standing up to her abuser. It’s a courageous and difficult thing to do,” he said.

He noted the statement of claim matches up largely with an agreed statement of facts filed in Heidel’s criminal case.

Sinclair said he hasn’t been contacted by any of the other three women involved with Heidel about joining the lawsuit.