CUNY prof specializing in sexuality wins $30M in NY’s first revenge porn suit against ex who posted her naked videos, photos online
A CUNY public health professor who specializes in sexuality won $30 million in a revenge porn lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend — marking the largest verdict awarded in such a case in New York City, her lawyer told The Post.
Dr. Spring Chenoa Cooper, 43, was awarded the whopping figure by a Manhattan jury on Friday — six years after she filed the Big Apple’s first revenge porn case against Brooklyn comedian Ryan Broems for posting naked videos and photos of her online following their split.
“It’s been the worst six years since this all started,” Cooper told The Post on Tuesday. “It means so much that the jury could validate my experiences and see how much pain and trauma this has caused me and continues to cause me.”
Cooper, an associate professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, sued Broems, 37, in 2018, accusing him of posting explicit videos and photos of her on Tumblr alongside her faculty, Facebook and OK Cupid profiles.
Broems pleaded guilty in a corresponding criminal case on Dec. 15, 2021 to the misdemeanor of disclosure of an intimate image and was given a no-jail sentence of 26-weeks attending a program for abusive partners, according to a transcript of the plea hearing reviewed by The Post.
He was also ordered to stay away from Cooper for five years from the time of his sentence.
Broems wasn’t represented at trial over Cooper’s lawsuit and didn’t even bother to show up for it either, her lawyer, Daniel Szalkiewicz, said.
The jury was only charged with determining how much Broems must pay Cooper in damages — after a judge previously found him liable for Cooper’s revenge porn claims.
Cooper said she doesn’t think she’ll ever see any of the money — but that the more important thing is the strong message of deterrence the verdict sends to others.
“It’s symbolic for me more than anything. The symbolism is that this isn’t okay and that’s what I feel is most important here,” Cooper told The Post.
“I’m grateful that the jury sent a message to my ex and every person who has even considered posting an intimate image or video of someone without their consent, that this is not something our society condones,” she added.
“In fact, it’s a sexual assault, we find it reprehensible, and the justice system is on our side.”
Cooper and Broems split in November 2017 following a “tumultuous” year together — and after Cooper found out he’d allegedly slept with five women in just the last week of their relationship, her suit claimed.
Broems ruthlessly harassed Cooper in the wake of the break-up, including by sending her daily Snapchats of himself masturbating each morning, according to the lawsuit.
When Cooper blocked him on the social media app, Broems exacted his revenge by posting nude images of her online, the suit alleged.
A devastated and humiliated Cooper filed a police report and took out an order of protection against Broems from Family Court — but that didn’t stop him from continuing to post about her, the suit claimed.
Broems actually joked in posts on then-Twitter about how Cooper took a restraining order out against him in February 2018.
On Valentine’s Day that year, Broems posted: “My ex is such a romantic. She just had my Valentine’s Day card hand delivered by the police and it read, ‘Roses are red, Violets are blue, Please always keep 500ft, Between me and you,'” according to a tweet shown to the jury.
Cooper feared at the time her career would be over. But thankfully, she can now say it didn’t suffer, though she wonders if people carry hidden stigmas against her because of the demeaning experience.
Cooper also said her love life has suffered due to a difficultly she now has trusting new people.
While she has had some relationships since, “I’ve also had a lot of break-ups over the past several years.”
New York City’s revenge porn laws went into effect in February 2018, and Cooper’s April suit was the first to be filed under the statute, her lawyer told The Post at the time.
Now Cooper has won the largest verdict to date in a revenge porn case in the city, Szalkiewicz said.
“We’re grateful that the New Yorkers who served on this jury recognized that image-based sexual abuse has serious and lifelong consequences for those who are victimized,” Szalkiewicz said Tuesday.
“We also hope this verdict acts as a warning that this sort of behavior is not tolerated here.”
Under the law, victims of revenge porn can sue for money damages, legal fees and injunctions to block postings. And the statute’s criminal component, provides for up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine for people who commit the crime.
Cooper said the experience has spurred her to advocacy, including joining the cyber sexual abuse task force in New York and delving into the topic in her academic research.
Broems, whose most recent address is listed in Connecticut, didn’t return a request for comment Tuesday. His criminal defense attorney said he did not represent him in the civil suit.
