A former candidate for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates has been charged in a bizarre revenge porn case.
Sheila Bynum-Coleman (D) was indicted Monday in Henrico County on two misdemeanor counts alleging that she disseminated nude photos of a woman at her workplace.
The prosecutor handling the case characterized it as “revenge porn.” Bynum-Coleman, reached by phone on Thursday, took issue with that characterization of the case and then said she did not want to comment.
Bynum-Coleman, 47, lives in Chesterfield and works as a real estate agent.
Last November, she tried but failed to unseat Republican Kirk Cox, who was a House of Delegates Speaker at the time.
Virginia laws makes it illegal to disseminate photos or video of another person in a state of undress with the intent to coerce or intimidate.
Authorities said that Bynum-Coleman obtained nude photos of the victim and showed them to the woman’s supervisor at her workplace.
Special prosecutor Robert Cerullo, who was appointed to handle the case, said Bynum-Coleman told the victim’s boss that the nude photos were taken at work and on company time. He said it’s unclear what Bynum-Coleman’s motive was.
Cerullo also said that Bynum-Coleman had posted copies of the nude photos to a stop sign near the woman’s job.
