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Scorned ex boyfriends or girlfriends who try to shame their former partners by sharing nude photos could soon face criminal charges. As Matt Galka tells us, a Florida State student, and victim herself, was instrumental in the bill passing.

Senator David Simmons (R-Altamonte Springs) told a story on the Senate floor last Wednesday while debating his revenge porn bill – a proposal that would make maliciously sharing an intimate picture of someone a crime. He said a girl approached him at the gym that morning to talk about it.

“This is the only way I know I can talk to you and this is a serious, serious problem,” said Sen. Simmons, describing what the girl told him.

That girl was Florida State student Carly Hellstrom. Hellstrom is a victim of revenge porn. Her ex-boyfriend shared intimate photos of her online without her permission. She has been following the bill through every committee stop and talked to us during the process.

“It’s long overdue,” she said back in April.

Carly graduated from Florida State last week and was watching online as the bill passed.

“I just hadn’t been nervous for something like that, and then I started crying when they passed it, I was just so happy, and I called my Mom,” she said.

The Senate was forced to pass the House’s version of the bill.

“Even though it doesn’t provide the kind of protections that oughta be provided to the victims of these crimes,” said Sen. Simmons.

The House had already stopped working by the time the Senate wanted to amend it.  Hellstrom is still hopeful the bill can be tweaked in the future.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be next year, I don’t know if it’s going to be the following, but hopefully one day the first offense will be a felony, I’m still a firm believer in that,” she said.

The bill still makes revenge porn a misdemeanor. It is currently awaiting the Governor’s approval.

The bill that passed only criminalizes revenge porn that appears on websites. The Senate sponsor said he wanted to broaden that to include things like sending out nude photos via text.