It is believed to be the first case in Ontario where the Crown has successfully equated non-consensual recordings of consensual sex to sexual assault.
Published Aug 10, 2023 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 3 minute read
Jacob Rockburn was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault in the Ontario Court of Justice. Photo by Gary Dimmock /Postmedia
In a disturbing case of betrayal, an Ottawa construction worker has been sentenced to five years for secretly recording consensual sex and posting the videos on PornHub.
Because the recordings were surreptitious, Ontario Court Justice Ann Alder ruled that the fraud negated consent, and she also found Jacob Rockburn guilty on two counts of sexual assault.
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Rockburn, 39, took the stand in his own defence, but the judge said his testimony defied common sense and bordered on the ridiculous. He wasn’t a credible or reliable witness — unlike the women who testified against him.
Rockburn said he asked permission in one case and in the other presumed the woman knew because the five-inch-high video camera in the bedroom — installed for security reasons — was in plain sight.
The other secret sex video was recorded in the back seat of his pickup truck in the parking lot of the Craig Henry Tennis Club.
Rockburn also told court he never told the women he would post the videos, complete with degrading titles.
The women testified at trial they would never have had sex with Rockburn had they known they would be recorded.
It was a significant breach of trust and devastating for both women, the judge said at sentencing on Thursday.
“Their lives have forever been altered. They believed they could trust him,” Alder told court. The judge noted Rockburn’s trail of trauma was designed solely “for his own pleasure and gratification.”
One victim has extreme anxiety, doesn’t trust anyone and hasn’t been able to have another relationship, court heard. She recoils when touched and has become paranoid.
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“Finding out the video was posted destroyed her. She now has PTSD and is on medication for anxiety and depression,” Alder said.
One of the victims was upstairs at her grandmother’s home when she learned the mortifying news.
“(To record) without my knowledge is terrifying, then to (post it) is really scary … It’s disgusting, it’s unbelievable,” the woman testified.
Each of the women lives in fear of not knowing if someone has seen the video, where it is, or if the video will be viewed again.
Under cross-examination by Assistant Crown Attorney Moiz Karimjee, Rockburn said he felt terrible about posting one of the videos, but, as the prosecutor noted, it stayed online for a year before Rockburn took it down.
“Why on Earth would you put it on Pornhub?” Karimjee asked.
Rockburn testified he uploaded it to clear storage space on his phone because “it was pretty well getting close to maximum.”
Karimjee asked the accused if he was just making up answers as he went along, and Rockburn said no.
Alder then asked the accused: “So you thought Pornhub was your own private storage space?”
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“Essentially,” Rockburn replied.
In an interview for a pre-sentence report, one of Rockburn’s brothers said Jacob wasn’t a criminal mastermind. “He’s just an idiot.”
Rockburn portrayed himself as a victim and said the case against him was the most traumatizing thing he ever endured. He also told court he had lost everything.
He has shown some remorse, but has a habit of minimizing his crimes.
It is believed to be the first case in Ontario where the Crown has successfully equated non-consensual recordings of consensual sex to sexual assault.
Rockburn was sentenced to more than seven years, but, after credits for pre-trial custody, five years remaining to serve.
His total sentence also includes a breach for lying under oath to vary his bail conditions. He swore he had a job waiting for him, but knew that wasn’t the case. The judge said that showed a disregard for the administration of justice.
The judge also waived the victim surcharge.
In the decision, the judge also noted: “It is impossible with today’s technology to consider the risk of deprivation in the form of serious psychological from surreptitious recording as separate and distinct from the risk of distribution of those recordings.
“That fear, that serious psychological harm, develops whether or not the images are actually distributed.”
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