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Section 33: Disclosing , or threatening to disclose, private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress

Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 · 2015 c. 2View on legislation.gov.uk

This provision is repealed
It is retained for historical reference and may not reflect the law currently in force.

Part 1: Criminal Justice

REPEALED on 2024-01-31 by Online Safety Act 2023.

The text below is the provision as originally enacted. It is historical and may not include amendments made before this status change. View the enacted source.

It is an offence for a person to disclose a private sexual photograph or film if the disclosure is made—

without the consent of an individual who appears in the photograph or film, and
with the intention of causing that individual distress.

But it is not an offence under this section for the person to disclose the photograph or film to the individual mentioned in subsection (1)(a) and (b).

It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he or she reasonably believed that the disclosure was necessary for the purposes of preventing, detecting or investigating crime.

It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to show that—

the disclosure was made in the course of, or with a view to, the publication of journalistic material, and
he or she reasonably believed that, in the particular circumstances, the publication of the journalistic material was, or would be, in the public interest.

It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to show that—

he or she reasonably believed that the photograph or film had previously been disclosed for reward, whether by the individual mentioned in subsection (1)(a) and (b) or another person, and
he or she had no reason to believe that the previous disclosure for reward was made without the consent of the individual mentioned in subsection (1)(a) and (b).

A person is taken to have shown the matters mentioned in subsection (4) or (5) if—

sufficient evidence of the matters is adduced to raise an issue with respect to it, and
the contrary is not proved beyond reasonable doubt.

For the purposes of subsections (1) to (5)—

“consent” to a disclosure includes general consent covering the disclosure, as well as consent to the particular disclosure, and
“publication” of journalistic material means disclosure to the public at large or to a section of the public.

A person charged with an offence under this section is not to be taken to have disclosed a photograph or film with the intention of causing distress merely because that was a natural and probable consequence of the disclosure.

A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine (or both), and
on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine (or both).

Schedule 8 makes special provision in connection with the operation of this section in relation to persons providing information society services.

In relation to an offence committed before section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 comes into force, the reference in subsection (9)(b) to 12 months is to be read as a reference to 6 months.

In relation to an offence committed before section 85 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 comes into force, the reference in subsection (9)(b) to a fine is to be read as a reference to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.