Mich. man accused of posting nude photos of ex to Facebook

Bay City, Mich. - Chad Monroe, a Michigan man, will appear in court on Aug. 26, for allegedly posting to Facebook nude photos of his ex-girlfriend and vowing to torment her until she committed suicide, MLive.com reports.

Monroe, 34, harassed his ex-girlfriend with calls, texts and lewd Facebook messages, even after the woman filed for a protective order on July 22, according to police. Monroe's case is the latest in what one expert last year told Crimesider is a "pervasive" trend of online sexual cyber-bullying.

The victim told police that Monroe said he would make her life a living hell until she killed herself, MLive.com report.

After the protective order (PPO) was issued, police called Monroe, of Bay City, Mich., who they said was belligerent to them on the phone. Monroe said it was the woman who had been calling him. He refused to come to the police station, saying he believed he'd be arrested, according to court records.

"I know about the PPO, but it's all bull(expletive) and you won't find me to serve me," Monroe told the police, according to court records. "I talked with my lawyer and he said I can put naked pictures of (her) on the Internet and I am going to keep doing it until she gives me my (expletive) back. There's nothing you can do about it. I am staying up in Pinconning with my crazy aunt and she will shoot anyone who comes onto her property."

Prosecutors apparently disagreed with Monroe's lawyer about the legality of posting nude photos of his ex. They issued a warrant for his arrest on Aug. 12.

While Bay City authorities managed to avoid a potential tragedy, sexual cyber-bullying is becoming an increasingly common problem, expert Danielle Citron told Crimesider last year.

In April 2013, girls in California and Nova Scotia committed suicide after allegedly being raped and then having pictures of the sexual assault distributed electronically among their peers.

The case came not long after two Ohio teens were convicted of rape after photos of the victim on the night of the assault went viral, posted to Twitter with hashtags like #rape and #drunkgirl accompanying the shared images.

"Law enforcement is behind the times on this," said Citron, a professor at the University of Maryland Frances King Carey School of Law and the author of the upcoming book "Hate 3.0: The Rise of Discriminatory Online Harassment and How to Stop It."

Citron added that sexual cyber-bulling is becoming "more pervasive, more common, and more acceptable."