Written Pornographic Stories and the law in England.

Peonyy

Is anyone on here legally trained and can advise?  Or can anyone point me in the direction of where I can find help?

My childrens dad has not been involved in their life since early - his choice - he has caused us trouble on multiple occassions in the past.  

February this year I was told by a friend that my ex had written and posted a written pornographic story about me and published it online on a site called Lush Stories (which I think is USA based).  I looked up his user name on google and it was high up in the search list... like 5th from the top.  Written in 2017 and left online, his account showed he uses the site every other day or so.

It was loosely based on an instance where I took our children to see him at his house.  We stayed overnight, me in the spare room, the kids in the room next door.  We had a few drinks while watching a film and I fell asleep.  The story portrays this... however that is where fact turns to fiction.

He states in it my name, a full graphic description, uses both kids as context.  He states he molested/groped me "accidentally" twice while I slept.  The rest is more disgusting.  It made me sick.

While it doesnt state my surname, he has only had 1 girlfriend.. me... and he posted his name and photo along with location.  So easy to find a friend saw it... as did 10k other perverts.

He also wrote 2 further stories about someone he claimed was "his boss".  This is a woman he told me he was dating and very serious about in later 2017.  I asked my friend who found it to reach out to her.  Turns out they never dated, he basically stalked her.  She also as far as Im aware filed a police report.  


Police report, I asked if it breached the harassment/malicious communications act or revenge !!!!!! laws as it became obvious all 3 stories were written out of revenge for being turned down.  Police response was that while bad, it did not breach those laws.

I have since been trying to find out if it breaches anything else.  Like the Obscene Publications Act for example.. but unless you pay, solicitors are no help and I dont have the cash to throw at this.


Does anyone know how I can get this actioned or looked into further?  

swingaloo2

I would be questioning how your 'friend' managed to find this. 

elsien

It’s only easy to find for people who use those sites; it’s not going to be something the majority of people would find just by doing a Google of someone’s name.
It is a horrible thing to have happened, but putting it in context, very few people (apart from your friend and your ex) on the site are likely to have a clue who you are, or to care, given that you say it is a fiction site. It’s not something people are going to accidentally stumble across and think, oh that must be Peonyy. Or that it’s real instead of made up. 

Also it’s a US site so the laws that apply here are not going to apply there. If the police aren’t going to take it further your options are limited. What does the site say about taking things down? 

Jude57

What a horrible thing to discover.  I agree with @elsien but would add that if it were me, I'd want the ex to be left in no doubt that this is unacceptable. A solicitor's letter might give him the shock he needs to recognise that fact. If you're a union member, you'll have legal cover, not just for employment issues. Some Employee Assistance schemes have it. Alternatively, your bank account or insurances for home/car/life might include legal cover. If none of these apply, you could try CAB or Women's Aid https://www.womensaid.org.uk

Hope this helps.

CKhalvashi

I am NOT a lawyer.

It could potentially be dealt with under the Obscene Publications Act.

If you have a UK (possibly EU, I'm not 100% sure of how this will work in practice now but can look it up) address for the publisher (the website), it may be worth sending a Letter Before Action.

If a US address only, a Cease and Desist letter.may be sufficient if you genuinely can be identified without your consent. I'm assuming it'll be taken seriously, as lawsuits under these circumstances can get very expensive very quickly so they'll likely not want to risk it.

You don't need a qualified professional to at least deal with the basic stuff, so it's worth resting on the site not wanting to risk this.

Peonyy

swingaloo2 said:

I would be questioning how your 'friend' managed to find this. 

They also know of him, he uses the same user id for literally everything.  They just searched it and a link came up in google.

Peonyy

elsien said:

It’s only easy to find for people who use those sites; it’s not going to be something the majority of people would find just by doing a Google of someone’s name.
It is a horrible thing to have happened, but putting it in context, very few people (apart from your friend and your ex) on the site are likely to have a clue who you are, or to care, given that you say it is a fiction site. It’s not something people are going to accidentally stumble across and think, oh that must be Peonyy. Or that it’s real instead of made up. 

Also it’s a US site so the laws that apply here are not going to apply there. If the police aren’t going to take it further your options are limited. What does the site say about taking things down? 

They removed the story about me as soon as I raised it with the site admin.  He then deleted the other 2 stories then his account. 

sassyblue

If he’s taken down the story I don’t think there’s much you can do now. If he didn’t include your full name and an address or enough information to work out your address then I don’t think there’s much you can do either.

i don't know for sure so obviously still try, but the fact the story has now gone is probably enough, although you have to factor in these 'wayback' sites.

HampshireH

So the site have resolved the matter.

I'm not really sure you will achieve anything else to be honest.

TBagpuss

It is deeply unpleasant but as the site has removed it I don't think there is much further you can do.

You may want to get some advice from someone who is it/media savvy about whether the story may be stored / archived  elsewhere and if so whether and how  it can be removed - the 'right to be forgotten' may help.

You could also speak to the police again to ask if they can log it as an incidence of harassment - it would not lead to them taking any action now, but as harassment is defined as being 'a course of conduct' , having it logged (with a crime ref. no) might make it easier for them to take action of there are any further incidents of a similar nature.

I think that the fact it was fiction (albeit featuring someone with your name) rather than a photo or video would mean it falls outside the laws around so-called 'revenge !!!!!!' but I am not sure.

The only other line you may want to look at is whether the police would record an incident of sexual assault  if he admitted in it that he assaulted you while you were asleep.

I don't think they would be able to take it much further absent any further evidence but it my be worth asking and again, may be helpful if there are any further, similar incidents either involving you or another person. 

Pinkman78

What is it you want to happen?

The site has removed it at your request. And as it was a fantasy site, yes the story may have been based on some factual events but he could quite easily say that him groping you was merely a fantasy and didn't actually happen. He has used your first name but ultimately you are only identifiable to anybody who knows his online username and his real life history.

I very much doubt it will go any further than what has already happened.