WINNIPEG – NEWS – Winnipeg Police Service has charged David Alexander ZEGARAC with publication of an intimate image without consent.
In April 2022, the Winnipeg Police Services’ Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) received a report about intimate images posted online without consent in 2015.
A subsequent investigation by DVU revealed a number of nude images of the reporting victim and other unknown women were posted online by the suspect.
Investigators believe the intimate images were posted without any of the women’s consent.
On May 14, 2022, DVU charged David Alexander ZEGARAC, 43, of Headingley, with the following offence:
– Publication of an Intimate Image Without Consent (from the April 2022 report).
He was released on an Undertaking with Crown imposed conditions.
This is an extremely serious criminal offence. If the Crown proceeds by way of indictment the accused faces up to five years in prison. Upon summary conviction six months is the maximum jail sentence.
This is a growing issue as couples share images via smartphones. A relationship ends and it becomes what is being called revenge porn.
The material may have been made by a partner in an intimate relationship with the knowledge and consent of the subject at the time, or it may have been made without their knowledge. The subject may have experienced sexual violence during the recording of the material, in some cases facilitated by narcotics such as date rape drugs which also cause a reduced sense of pain and involvement in the sexual act, dissociative effects and amnesia.
The possession of the material may be used by the perpetrators to blackmail the subjects into performing other sex acts, to coerce them into continuing a relationship or to punish them for ending one, to silence them, to damage their reputation, and/or for financial gain.
This investigation is continuing. Anyone with information to assist police or who wishes to speak to investigators is asked to call the Domestic Violence Unit at 204-986-2602. Other supportive resources include WPS Victim Services at 204-986-6350 or Klinic Sexual Assault Crisis Line at 204-786-8631.