Australian Lawmaker Demands Investigation into 'Revenge Porn' Video
An Australian lawmaker has called for an investigation into an alleged "revenge porn" video that shows a former staffer involved in sexual acts with another man in government offices, the Sunday Morning Herald reports.
The article said that Warren Entsch, a Liberal MP and LGTBQ equality advocate, called for the investigation after Gavin Cuddy provided a journalist with explicit images of Nathan Winn that showed him "masturbating on a female MP's desk and engaging in oral sex inside Parliament House."
The images were reportedly released after Winn and Cuddy broke off their friendship once Winn began seeing someone new. Cuddy has claimed that he has compromising images of other staff members in addition to those he has already released. But he also says that giving the images to the press was not intended as revenge.
"Mr. Cuddy said he gave the images of Mr Winn to Network Ten journalist Peter Van Onselen to 'call out the culture' inside Parliament House," the article detailed.
Cuddy, the newspaper clarified, is "a Canberra-based retail manager who has never worked in Parliament or in politics."
Entsch said that in the wake of the images being released, Liberal "staffers were being suspected of improper conduct due to their sexuality," the article reported, and said said blanket assumptions about gay staffers were "highly offensive".
"Let's make it clear: It is revenge porn," Entsch declared. "Nathan basically shut him down and this character has now decided to get even."
Revenge porn or not, the release of the images without Winn's consent constitutes an offense that is punishable by up to three years in jail, the article noted.
But in the wake of the images already released, Cuddy has "sought to provide explicit images of himself and what he claims are other Liberal staffers to Special Minister for State Simon Birmingham and Labor Senator Kristina Keneally," the article added.
"As of Sunday, neither had accepted receipt of the graphic material."