Part 10: Communications offences Offence to be inserted into Sexual Offences Act 2003 Section 66B: Sharing or threatening to share intimate photograph or film
Subsection (1) creates a new offence which is committed if a person (A) intentionally shares a photograph or film which shows, or appears to show, another person (B) in an intimate state, without the consent, or a reasonable belief in the consent of that person. There is no requirement to prove the sharing was done for a particular reason. The focus on photographs and films which "shows or appears to show" ensures that the offence is made out, not just in scenarios where the photograph or film shared is a genuine photograph or film of B, but also, for example, where the photograph or film shows someone who appears to be B but might not, in fact, be B (for example, if the photograph or film depicts either B, or B’s identical twin C), and photographs and film that ,  have been altered or manufactured so that it appears to be a genuine photograph or film of B. This approach is taken in all the offences in this section.
	Subsection (2) creates a new offence which is committed if a person (A) intentionally shares a photograph or film which shows, or appears to show, another person (B) in an intimate state, without the consent of B, with the intent to cause alarm, distress or humiliation to B.
	Subsection (3) creates a new offence of intentionally sharing a photograph or film which shows, or appears to show, another person (B) in an intimate state, without the consent or a reasonable belief in the consent of B, for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification for the person doing the sharing, or another person.
	Subsection (4) creates a new offence of threatening to share a photograph or film which shows or appears to show another person (B), and where the perpetrator intended that B or someone who knows B will fear the threat will be carried out, or was reckless as to that result.
	Subsection (5) provides for the offences in subsections (1) – (4) to be subject to section 66C, which sets out a number of exemptions (not all of which would be applicable to all the offences).
	Subsection (6)(a) provides that, for the purposes of the offences in subsections (1) to (3) and the exemption in 66C(3)(b), "consent" to the sharing of a photograph or film includes consent to share the photograph or film generally, and consent to the particular sharing in question.
	Subsection 6(b) provides that when determining whether or not a person’s belief in B’s consent was reasonable, regard must be had to all of the circumstances, including any steps that the person has taken to ascertain whether B consents.
	Subsections (7)(a) and (b) provides that the threat offence can be made out even if the photograph or film does not exist, or where the photograph or film does exist, it is not in fact a photograph or film which shows or appears to show a person in an intimate state.
	Subsection (8) provides a defence where the person charged has a reasonable excuse for sharing the photograph or film without consent or a reasonable belief in consent. Examples of a reasonable excuse might include where it was necessary for the prevention or detection of a crime to share an intimate photo or film with a police officer.
	Subsection (9) provides that the offence in subsection (1) is triable only summarily. The maximum penalty on conviction is imprisonment for a term not exceeding the maximum term for summary offences, which is 6 months if the offence is committed before section 281(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 comes into force, or 51 weeks if committed after that time (subsection 11). An offender may also be given an unlimited fine.
	Subsection (10) provides for the offences under subsections (2), (3) and (4) to be triable either way (that is, either in a magistrates’ court or on indictment by the Crown Court). If convicted in a magistrates’ court the maximum penalty on conviction is imprisonment for a term not exceeding the general limit in a magistrates’ court (subsection 11).  An offender may also be given an unlimited fine. On conviction on indictment the maximum penalty would be imprisonment for a term no more than 2 years.
	Subsection (12) confers a power on a magistrates’ court or jury to find a person guilty of the offence in subsection (1) where they have been found not guilty of one of the more serious offences under subsections (2) or (3), for example because it has not been proven that the person shared the photograph or film for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification. Where this occurs in the Crown Court, the Court would have the same powers and duties that a magistrates’ court would have when convicting a person of a subsection (1) offence (subsection 13) (for example, the maximum penalty will align with that set out in subsection (9)).