PALM COAST, Fla. – Posting "revenge porn" is illegal in itself, according to Florida law. Posting photos of an underage ex-girlfriend is sharing child porn and can lead a person being classified as a registered sex offender, which is what a 20-year-old Palm Coast man recently learned when deputies arrested him.
Flagler County Sheriff's deputies responded to the 17-year-old victim's home on Nov. 30 and spoke with her mother who said the teen was being harassed online by her ex-boyfriend, Au' Qoin Neeley.
The victim told deputies she broke up with Neeley in September because he cheated on her. She said Neeley had posted sexually explicit photos of her on his Snapchat and Instagram accounts.
Deputies spoke with Neeley, who confirmed the victim was his ex-girlfriend, and that he posted photos and videos of the victim that appeared on his social media for about 11 hours.
"Au' Qoin made multiple statements that he is a very popular person, and has a lot of friends," deputies wrote in the arrest report.
According to the report, Neeley allowed deputies to access his photos and view his Snapchat account under the name liljayinthecut and his Instagram yslslimne_lean which matched the accounts on which the victim's sexually explicit images had appeared on.
Neeley was booked into the Flagler County Detention Facility on charges of sexual cyberharassment and transmission of child pornography. Jail records show he was ordered held on $20,000 bail and remains in the county jail.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, if convicted, Neeley will have to register as a sexual offender.
"This is the age that we live in now," Flagler County Sheriff's Office Chief Steve Brandt said. "That's why I can't stress enough that parents really need to monitor what their children are doing on their cellphones."