How much should you be owed if someone posts a naked picture of you in a locker room online? $60, apparently.
That’s how much former Playboy model Dani Mathers will pay in restitution to the 70-year-old woman she surreptitiously photographed and posted to her Snapchat story last July. Mathers was also sentenced this week to three years of probation and 30 days of community service. The picture of the naked woman also showed Mathers with her hand over her mouth, captioned “If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either.”
Mathers wanted her community service to include going to schools and teaching kids about the dangers of social media, but the judge didn’t want Mathers in schools, one of her attorneys toldThe New York Times. Instead, Mathers will be removing graffiti.
“This country has a growing problem of bullying through body-shaming on social media that needs to be addressed,” California State Senator Cathleen Galgian said in a statement on Wednesday. “Having a photo taken of you in a fitting room or locker room when you have a reasonable expectation of privacy is humiliating in and of itself — but when that photo is then shared across social media the victim can experience long-term harm and embarrassment.” Galgian is responsible for a new law in California that would make the restitution owed to a victim of a nude or partially clothed photo posting cover the amount it would cost to have the picture removed from the internet up to $1,000.
In a video apology after the photo was posted, Mathers said that she “just wanted to acknowledge a picture I accidentally posted here on Snapchat earlier today and let you guys know that that was absolutely wrong and not what I meant to do.” Mathers went on to say that she actually meant to send the picture to a friend, but because she was new to Snapchat, she accidentally posted it on her story.
The damage to Mathers’ bank account in the long run is much more than $60. She lost her her regular gig on local Los Angeles radio show “Heidi and Frank” and was banned from all L.A. Fitness locations. According to TMZ, Mathers was also worried that a conviction could ruin her chances of obtaining a real estate license.
