Rochester Man Charged With Posting Nude Photo of Crime Victim
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - An arrest warrant has been issued for a Rochester man accused of posting a nude photo of another man without his knowledge or permission,
19-year-old Robert Hall is charged with felony counts of dissemination of pornographic works and nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images. The criminal complaint alleges the posting of the image was prompted by phone conversations with a man being held in the Olmsted County Jail in connection with a variety of crimes, including one involving a man who was struck on the head with a machete.
Rochester Police began investigating Hall after a member of the victim's family complained about an internet post featuring a nude photo of the man with a caption saying he was a "snitch." Investigators then listened to recordings of the assault suspect's jail calls and discovered that he had spoken to multiple friends "expressing outrage that the victim is a snitch."
According to the criminal complaint, one of the calls made by 18-year-old Jacob Bale was to Robert Hall, during which Hall disclosed that he possessed a photo of the nude victim and Bale instructed him to post it on a social media site. Bale then tells Hall to add the caption about the victim being a snitch and Hall replies that he is logging on to post the image. The phone exchange ends with Hall asking Bale how to spell the word "snitch."
The court document says investigators reviewed the image and it matched the description from the jail phone conversation. It also states that the photo was clearly taken "under circumstances such that the victim did not expect anyone else to ever see it.