Rob Kardashian could be subject to criminal charges for posting a series of explicit photos of his ex-fiancée Blac Chyna to social media on Wednesday, a legal expert tells PEOPLE.
The since-deleted photos – some of which Kardashian re-posted multiple times as they were removed from the website – showed Chyna’s nude body. Alongside the images, Kardashian accused Chyna of infidelity.
“This is sort of the classic, quintessential revenge porn,” says Carrie Goldberg, attorney and founder of Internet abuse and sexual consent firm C. A. Goldberg, PLLC. “Rob has made the work of a prosecutor or a victim’s attorney quite easy so far as to even post about the very motive behind his outrageous act of posting these private and nude photos of his ex.”
She adds that “the allegation of infidelity does not give someone the right to seek revenge in such a devastating way.”
Goldberg – who does not represent Chyna or Kardashian – says that California, where both parties reside, has “very, very strong non-consensual pornography laws.”
In 2013, revenge porn was made a crime under the California Penal Code. According to the state’s law, it is a criminal misdemeanor to intentionally distribute identifiable images of another person’s intimate body parts “under circumstances in which the persons agree or understand that the image shall remain private, the person distributing the image knows or should know that distribution of the image will cause serious emotional distress, and the person depicted suffers that distress.”
If charged, Kardashian could face up to six months in jail and a fine, says Goldberg.
She notes that Kardashian could also be subject to civil action, should Chyna chose to pursue a lawsuit against her ex. “Blac Chyna has the ability to take matters into her own hands and sue him,” says Goldberg. “And to get a restraining order against him and to seek damages herself – that’s a very empowering tool for victims.”
When it comes to potential damages that Chyna could receive, Goldberg says, “We are talking about millions upon millions.”
The situation is obviously magnified because of the duo’s celebrity, says Goldberg, who notes that every single one of Kardashian’s nearly 10 million Instagram followers can download or screenshot the photos, and re-post them.
She adds that Kardashian’s claims of infidelity are also irrelevant should he be arrested.
“For anybody to seize the sexual privacy of another person, no matter who that person is, or how they may have voluntarily exposed themselves in the past, nobody has that right,” says Goldberg. “Nobody has the right to take control of someone else’s sexual privacy. When we’re talking about revenge porn, we’re talking about consent and control. And he took control away and his act of posting the images was without consent.”
Kardashian and Chyna first began dating in January 2016, and got engaged that April. A month later, they announced they were expecting their first child. The two welcomed their daughter, Dream Renée, last November.
PEOPLE confirmed the two had called off their engagement in February, and in the months since, the status of their relationship has remained unclear, though the two appeared to have been on relatively good terms.
This article originally appeared on People.com
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