Texas Senator Helped Pass ‘Revenge’ Law, Now His Son Is Charged With Breaking It

Texas Senator Charles Schwertner is responsible for helping pass a piece of Texas legislation I believe in wholeheartedly. Senate Bill 1135, known as the "Relationship Privacy Act," created Penal Code 21.16, the Unlawful Disclosure or Promotion of Intimate Visual Material. It's also known as the Revenge P*rn law.

In addition to being a state jail felony, the release of so-called revenge p*rn is also grounds for the aggrieved party to sue, and one Texas man was successfully sued to the tune of a billion dollars.

Senator Schwertner's son was just charged with allegedly threatening to release intimate photos of his ex-girlfriend. The threat of releasing such materials is a Class A misdemeanor with up to a year jail sentence, and up to a $4000 fine. Legislation also allows for the culprit to be sued.

According to mysanantonio.com Matthew Schwertner was arrested in Travis County, "on a charge of publishing or threatening to publish intimate visual matter." He allegedly threatened to publish intimate photos of his ex-girlfriend a full six months after their break-up.

Court records indicated that Matthew was trying to get back items he bought for his ex-girlfriend during their relationship and that he threatened to send the images to her sister and mother. 

Even after his ex-girlfriend asked him to stop contacting her, he continued to send message after message, including one that read “It’s ok ur a poor Mexican what can one expect."

This isn't the only legal trouble the Schwertner family has seen recently, in February of last year Senator Schwertner himself was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, but the charges were dropped last July.