A Texas senator’s son has been arrested on charges related to revenge porn in accordance with a law that his father helped pass eight years prior. Matthew Schwertner, the son of Texas Senator Charles Schwertner, was arrested in Travis County on January 17 on a charge of publishing or threatening to publish intimate visual matter, according to public records from the Austin Police Department.
The 21-year-old allegedly sent his ex-girlfriend texts in January threatening to release the intimate photos about six months after their break-up, according to court records obtained by Fox 7 Austin.
The senior Schwertner was part of a 2015 unanimous vote in the Texas Senate to elevate the crime to a serious offense level in Senate Bill 1135, also known as the Relationship Privacy Act.
According to court documents, Matthew texted the ex-girlfriend threatening to send an intimate photo of her to her mother and sisters if she didn’t return items he bought for her in the course of their relationship. He told her the reason he still had the picture was “In case you acted like a 2-year-old.” Even after his ex-girlfriend asked him to stop contacting her, he continued to send message after message, including one that read “It’s ok ur a poor Mexican what can one expect.”
After the woman reported the alleged harassment to police, Matthew was arrested on a threat to publish the intimate visual matter, which, if convicted, would result in a Class A misdemeanor, meaning Matthew could spend up to a year in jail and be charged with a fine up to $4,000. The Relationship Privacy Act said that Matthew could owe the woman monetary damages, including for mental anguish, court costs, and attorney’s fees. The court may also provide the ex-girlfriend with a temporary restraining order or injunction on release of the intimate material, which can incur costs between $500-1,000 per violation if the injunction is violated.