GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina’s State Law Enforcement Division is using computer analysis as part of an ongoing investigation into video released of Belton Mayor Tiffany Ownbey that her attorney says is a case of “revenge porn.”
A spokesman for the agency, which was asked to take up the case by local law enforcement in late June, said Friday that they’re “actively using computer forensics” as part of the investigation, according to the Greenville News.
Ownbey last year became the first woman elected mayor of Belton, which is located about 25 miles southwest of Greenville.
Druanne White, an attorney representing Ownbey, has said a man secretly recorded a “private, intimate encounter” with Ownbey years ago and then threatened to release it if she ended their relationship. The man has not been identified.
Agency spokesman Tommy Crosby has said the case centers on unauthorized publication of video on social media, the newspaper reports. Crosby said investigators are exhausting all possible leads.
South Carolina is one of just a handful of states that don’t have a specific law against revenge porn, the release of sexually explicit images without an individual’s consent.
State Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell, a Democrat from Lancaster, introduced a bill to outlaw revenge porn last year, but it failed to gain traction.
Ownbey tweeted in July: “We want EXTREMELY TOUGH penalties against this. Felony charges and prison time. It will make the ones doing this think twice! #equality #stoprevengeporn #putintolaweverywhere.”
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