A mayor in Maryland who was arrested Monday and charged with 50 counts of distributing revenge porn is accused of posting nude photos without the victim’s consent to the online forum Reddit, prosecutors said.
Andrew Bradshaw, 32, the mayor of Cambridge, in Dorchester County about 60 miles southeast of Annapolis, is accused of creating multiple accounts on Reddit and posting nude photographs captioned with racial slurs and sexually explicit language, State Prosecutor Charlton T. Howard III said in a statement. The images of the woman, referred to as VICTIM-1 in the criminal complaint, were distributed without her consent, he said.
“VICTIM-1 advised that she transmitted the posted photographs only to one other person, Andrew Bradshaw, that the photographs were sent when she and Bradshaw were in an intimate relationship, and that she not provide Bradshaw with consent to re-distribute the photographs,” said the complaint, filed in Dorchester County circuit court.
Bradshaw was arrested Monday and made an initial appearance in court, where he was released on his own recognizance, Howard said. Bradshaw has to abide by court-imposed restrictions, Howard said, one of which is that he not contact the victim.
Online records did not list an attorney for Bradshaw, who could not immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
“Using someone’s private images without their consent is a serious breach of trust and invasion of privacy, and the power and breadth of the internet makes such a violation even more egregious,” Howard said in the statement. “Our office is committed to protecting victims from those who abuse their positions of power and trust.”
Maryland’s revenge porn law prohibits the nonconsensual distribution of a private visual representation of another person that exposes the person’s intimate body or displays the person engaged in sexual activity with the intent to harm, harass, intimidate, threaten or coerce the person, the statement read.
Bradshaw posted on subreddit forums on Reddit that were related to sexual activity, humiliation, degradation, race and other topics, prosecutors said. The criminal complaint said each subreddit has its own page, where users can share content by publishing stories, links and posts.
The images were posted in April and May, the criminal complaint alleges.
Reddit did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It does not allow posting intimate or sexually explicit media of someone without consent.
If he is convicted, Bradshaw could face a maximum penalty of two years’ incarceration and fines up to $5,000 for each count, prosecutors said.
A notice on Cambridge’s website said: “The City is aware of the matter involving the Mayor. The City is currently gathering information and will cooperate fully with the Maryland State Police and the Office of the State Prosecutor. As the City has a Council-Manager form of municipal government whereby the City Manager serves as the chief executive officer of the City and the head of its administrative branch, the business of the City is unaffected. As this is an active legal matter, no further comments will be made at this time.”
A biography that was also on the city website describes Bradshaw as a lifelong resident of the area. It said that when Bradshaw took office in January, he “became the youngest mayor in the City of Cambridge’s history.” The website also said Bradshaw lives in the city’s historic district with his partner and their two dogs, Stella and Barren.