Although Michigan’s revenge porn laws have recently changed, for one woman from Bay City that doesn’t seem to have made any difference to the charges she is facing. 22-year-old Stephanie J. Knapp of Bay County, Michigan, has been accused of posting nude pictures of another woman to Facebook, and the charges she is facing as a result have nothing to do with sex crime charges.
According to the Bay County Sheriff’s Department, one of their deputies took a call on March 27, 2016 from a woman who claimed that Knapp was harassing her by posting nude pictures of her online. The alleged victim, a 20-year-old woman from Bangor Township, claimed that Knapp had posted pictures of her on Facebook that she had previously shared with a man she was dating.
The woman told the deputy that she had formerly been in a relationship with a man whom she sent nude pictures of herself to. These images included pictures of her genitalia. She claims that the man must have shared the images with others after their relationship ended. She also claimed that Knapp had openly admitted in the comments under one of the images that she had been the one to post them on Facebook.
According to the woman, she and Knapp had been friends about a year before but had a falling out over a man. The deputy told her that she would need to provide proof of the allegations before he could continue the investigation. The alleged victim sent him a number of screen shots that included nude pictures of her on Facebook along with the comments posted underneath.
Phone with pics had been stolen at party
The deputy contacted the man who the images were initially sent to, but he said that the phone he had stored those pictures on had been stolen at a party some time before. He said that he hadn’t had access to those pictures in a while and had no idea who had them now.
Moving on, the deputy then attempted to contact Knapp, but was unable to locate her. He did note, however, that she was already wanted on an outstanding warrant. The warrant stemmed from not paying court fines on a domestic violence conviction from 2014. A second warrant was issued on August 22, 2016 and Knapp appeared voluntarily for her arraignment in the Bay County District Court on August 29th.
Knapp was charged with single counts of Using a Computer to Commit a Crime and Unlawful Posting of a Message. These charges are both felonies, with the first one being punishable by up to four years in prison, and the second one being a two year felony.
Knapp was released on a personal recognizance bond and was told that she was still required to pay the $580 in fines that she owes as a result of her 2015 domestic violence conviction. He preliminary examination is scheduled for Wednesday, September 14, 2016 at 2 pm.
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