CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- A Chesterfield woman said personal photos she sent to her then fiancé years ago were posted on social media by the man's new girlfriend. Shaina Craft-Johnson said the harassment on social media would start, then stop, then start back up again. In the end, she said her entire family, including many from different parts of the country, have now seen the naked photos. Photos that were intended for her boyfriend’s eyes only.
"From the first look, you're probably going to say, ‘Oh, she sends naked pictures,’” Craft-Johnson said about her situation. "But really that's not the case."
Craft-Johnson said while she sent the naked photos to her fiancé years ago, she believed they were for his eyes only, never thinking they'd surface on social media.
"I was in a rough relationship. Then we parted ways," she said.
After the break-up, Craft-Johnson said said she started receiving posts on Instagram linked to Twitter of the same photos she sent her then boyfriend. She claimed a woman named Shamika Winston, was retweeting and reposting the photos to humiliate her. Winston, she said, was her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend.
Shamika Winston
"It kept reposting on Twitter and Instagram,” Craft-Johnson said. “My family saw it. It was embarrassing."
Winston, 21, was eventually charged with producing, reproducing with purposes of sale or distribution of an obscene item. Those charges, WTVR CBS 6 legal expert Todd Stone said, would probably change
"It can be amended by the prosecutor under the revenge porn statute," Stone said. "All they have to prove is a nude photo was sent to harass somebody or cause emotional distress."
Emotional distress is something Craft-Johnson said she has definitely endured. She offered advice to other women.
"With the lessons I learned, I try to help people," she said. “I really don't want anyone to go through it. I felt comfortable with him but you can't trust anybody. Keep it to yourself."
Winston, who is out on bond, was due back in Chesterfield court for an arraignment on Friday.
