Ex-Windies cricketer's 'revenge porn' case to be ruled on Oct 26

Port-of-Spain (Trinidad), Sep 29 - A high court judge will rule on October 26 whether or not former West Indies opening batsman Lendl Simmons breached confidentiality by leaking sexually explicit photographs of an account executive with whom he had an extra-marital affair.

Justice Frank Seepersad made the announcement on Tuesday after a day in which the court heard steamy details of Simmons' short-lived affair with Therese Ho, who is seeking substantial damages from him for breaching the common law principle of confidence after he allegedly shared intimate photos of her, a news agency reported.

She applied for and received an injunction on June 5, 2014, from Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh preventing any further disclosure of material which emanated from her relationship with Simmons. 

The court file was sealed on request of Ho's attorneys, but had been re-opened last year when the case was set for trial before Justice Seepersad. 

Simmons has denied being involved with Ho but admitted the two had a brief, singular sexual encounter.

Ho has alleged that Simmons shared intimate photos of her with his fellow cricket team-mates while in India. 

Simmons in testimony on Monday said it was Ho who first sent the photograph of her performing oral sex on him to his fiancee, now his wife and that he only sent the explicit photo to the father of her younger daughter after the latter asked for it. 

He insisted he only sent the photographs to one person and did not know if his team mates Kieron Pollard or Dwayne Bravo also got the photos. 

"It was not an act of revenge or malice," he said when asked why he sent the photographs to her ex-boyfriend.

"I was upset," he said.

Simmons said he took the explicit photographs of his former lover because he had "trust issues" with her and wanted them as insurance in the event she tried to blackmail him.

But Ho told the court that the explicit photograph and another of her -- a full body nude shot -- were sent in revenge by the batsman after she wanted to end their relationship.

She said she only contacted his fiancee because she felt she had a moral obligation to tell her of their secret affair and she considered the photographs she sent to Simmons and those he took of her as confidential. 

Ho said in order to keep "Simmo" happy when he was away on cricketing duties, she would send him nude photographs of herself, either on his request or on her own volition. The photographs were sent via the mobile messaging application WhatsApp. 

She also allowed him to take photographs of her, but insisted these were private and confidential. Simmons said he had over 25 photographs of her -- two of which were of them engaging in oral sex.

The judge is expected to deliver a written ruling in the case as he acknowledged that the matter was of some importance due to the increasing use of social media, smart phones and the dissemination of information.

Simmons has featured in eight Tests and 68 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for the West Indies.

(IANS)