This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Farmington • A Davis County man was sentenced to jail Tuesday for sending nude photos of his estranged wife to her family.
Shon Handrahan, 31, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of third-degree felony distribution of pornographic material and two charges of misdemeanor electronic communication harassment.
On Tuesday, the man — whose actions spurred a state law banning so-called revenge porn — stood before a Davis County judge and apologized for sending the photos.
"I'm really sorry for what I've done," he said. "If I had been in the right mind, I wouldn't have done it."
Second District Judge David Connors sentenced Handrahan to spend an additional 60 days in jail, on top of 90 days he had already served at the Davis County jail.
The judge told Handrahan that he could be released early if he was able to get probation services in Oregon, where he is planning to live.
Handrahan was accused of sending approximately 100 text messages to his estranged wife in October 2012, some of them threatening. When she did not respond, he sent "obscene pictures" of his wife to five members of her immediate family, according to a search warrant affidavit.
"This isn't just something he did all of a sudden," Deputy Davis County Attorney Nathan Lyon told the judge. "This was something that was building up all day long. He made threats to do this. The state feels like this is very serious conduct."
Lyon said that there is a "certain level of trust" in marriage, and Handrahan violated that with his "vindictive behavior." The prosecutor added that one of the captions Handrahan attached to a nude photo said, "What do you think of your little angel now?"
When the case was originally filed in 2012, Handrahan faced nine charges, but three distribution counts and two harassment charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Handrahan's wife filed for divorce in December 2012.
The Davis County case led Utah lawmakers to pass a bill during last year's legislative session that made it illegal to share private images without the consent of the person pictured.
"Distribution of an intimate image" is now a class A misdemeanor on a first offense, but can be enhanced to a third-degree felony for repeat offenders.
Rep. Marie Poulson, D-Cottonwood Heights, sponsored the bill last year. She said last February that there were several "revenge porn" cases in Utah courts at that time.
"This is a situation where you have a couple who could have unwisely or naively shared personal images with one another in the course of their relationship," Poulson said. "And then there's a breakup, and these things are used to harm the other individual, to ruin their life or to destroy them personally in their jobs or in their families."
Twitter: @jm_miller