Woman Sues University of Central Florida Fraternity for Sharing Nude Images of Her
Kathryn Novak has filed a lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend and his four fraternity brothers at the University of Central Florida, claiming they shared a video of the couple having sex without her consent.
According to the lawsuit, five members of Sigma Delta Chi looked at and shared nude pictures and videos of her without her permission last year. She was in a relationship with one of the members, Brandon Simpson then and they saw each other twice a month.
Last October, he allegedly recorded video footage of the two of them having sex and quickly shared it with his fraternity brothers, Jacob Pelkey, Andre Perales, Jonathan Landrum and Matt Farley. Novak was nude and her face was identifiable. The video was seen by more than 200 people.
Novak’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti, said that the sharing of her nude images really upset Novak.
“The fact that you had a basically frat-boy atmosphere, both literally and figuratively, that was centered on the exploitation of women without their knowledge or consent is outrageous,” he said.
The lawsuit also claims fraternity members of posting nude images of their sexual conquests to a private Facebook page called the Dog Pound. The members used the page “to post nude videos and nude pictures of their girlfriends and other unwitting female victims, including images depicting the young women engaged in private sexual activities.”
The Sigma Delta Chi chapter allegedly knew about the Facebook page and didn’t do anything to stop it.
The national officials of the fraternity, however, did say they suspended the Orlando Chapter.
“While we cannot comment on specific allegations made in the lawsuit, these claims are disturbing and antithetical to our organization’s values and mission,” they said.
Novak said her reputation suffered from the incident and seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory, statutory and punitive damages.
This isn’t the first time a fraternity has been under hot water for sharing nude photos of women without their consent. In 2015, members of the Kappa Delta Rho Chapter of Penn State posted photos of nude or partly nude women on a private Facebook page and some of these women were passed out.
A Penn State administrator said that accusations were a violation of the standards and values required for student organizations.
“The evidence offered by the Facebook postings is appalling, offensive and inconsistent” with the university’s expectations, Damon Sims, Penn State’s vice president for student affairs, said in a news release.
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