If someone shared your nudes in Arkansas without your permission, that person has likely committed a crime under Arkansas Code 5-26-314, and depending on the circumstances they can also be charged federally, sued for money damages, and ordered by a court to stay away from you. You can also demand the images be taken down from platforms where they appear. Here’s how each piece works and what you can do right now.
What the Person Who Shared Your Images Is Facing
Arkansas rewrote its nonconsensual intimate image law through Act 981 of 2025, and the current version is broad. It covers any identifiable person whose nude or sexually explicit photo or video is distributed without consent. The old law only reached images shared between family members, household members, or current and former dating partners; that limitation is gone.1Arkansas General Assembly. Arkansas Act 981 of 2025 – Unlawful Distribution of an Intimate Image
It doesn’t matter that you knew the picture was being taken, that you took it yourself and sent it to the person, or that the physical file technically belongs to them. None of those is a defense. What matters is that an adult knowingly distributed an intimate image of you without your consent.
The penalty depends on why they shared it and whether they’ve done it before:
- A base violation is a Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to one year in jail and a fine up to $2,500.
- It becomes a Class D felony, with up to six years in prison, if the person intended to cause you physical, mental, economic, or reputational harm, if they got something of value for sharing the image, or on a second misdemeanor-level offense.
- It becomes a Class C felony, carrying three to ten years, on a second or subsequent felony-level offense, or a third or subsequent misdemeanor-level offense.
The “intent to harm” trigger is the one that catches most people. An ex who posts your pictures to hurt you, embarrass you, or damage your relationships or job prospects is almost always looking at felony exposure, not a misdemeanor.1Arkansas General Assembly. Arkansas Act 981 of 2025 – Unlawful Distribution of an Intimate Image
When Someone Is Threatening to Share Your Images
If the images haven’t been posted yet and someone is holding them over you, that’s a separate and much more serious crime. Arkansas Code 5-14-113 makes sexual extortion a Class B felony punishable by five to twenty years in prison.2FindLaw. Arkansas Code 5-14-113 – Sexual Extortion3Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence
The statute covers threatening to release intimate images to force sexual contact or new explicit material, demanding money or anything of value in exchange for not releasing them, and threatening to use the images to damage your property or reputation as leverage. The threat is enough on its own. The person doesn’t have to actually send anything out to be convicted.2FindLaw. Arkansas Code 5-14-113 – Sexual Extortion
If this is happening to you, save every message, screenshot every demand, and contact law enforcement before you pay anything or send anything new. Paying rarely ends the extortion; it usually escalates it.
Federal Charges Under the Take It Down Act
Since May 2025, there’s a federal law stacked on top of Arkansas’s. The Take It Down Act criminalizes nonconsensual publication of intimate images across the country. Publication of an adult’s image carries up to two years in federal prison, and publication of a minor’s image carries up to three. Threats to publish carry the same penalties as actually publishing.4Congress.gov. The Take It Down Act – A Federal Law Prohibiting Nonconsensual Intimate Images
Federal prosecutors are most likely to get involved when the images cross state lines, when there are multiple victims, or when the images end up on large platforms. State and federal charges can both move forward against the same person.
Getting the Images Off the Internet
Prosecuting and suing addresses the person responsible, but neither one automatically takes the pictures down. That’s a separate process you have to pursue yourself.
Google already lets you request removal of nonconsensual intimate images from search results through its search interface. Most major social platforms have their own reporting flows for intimate images shared without consent, and you should use them for every site where the images appear.
The Take It Down Act also created a formal takedown mechanism that takes full effect by May 19, 2026. Once it does, any website, app, or online service that hosts user-generated content has to let you submit a removal request. A valid request includes a good-faith statement that the image is nonconsensual and enough information to locate it. The platform then has 48 hours to remove the image and make reasonable efforts to find and remove identical copies. Platforms must also post a clear explanation of their removal process.4Congress.gov. The Take It Down Act – A Federal Law Prohibiting Nonconsensual Intimate Images
Before you ask any platform to remove anything, screenshot the images, the URLs, the usernames, the dates, and anything else that identifies where they appeared and who posted them. You’ll need that evidence for a criminal case or a civil lawsuit, and once the content is gone it’s much harder to recover. Speed matters too. The longer the images stay up, the more they spread.
Suing the Person for Money
Criminal prosecution punishes the offender but doesn’t put money in your pocket. Arkansas adopted the Uniform Civil Remedies for Unauthorized Disclosure of Intimate Images Act, codified in Title 16, Chapter 129. That statute gives you a direct civil cause of action to sue for damages, including compensation for emotional distress and reputational harm. You don’t have to wait for a criminal conviction, and you don’t need one to win.
Protective Orders — and Their Limits
If the person who shared your images is a current or former partner, a family member, or someone in your household, you can petition the circuit court for an Order of Protection under Arkansas Code 9-15-201. File in the county where you live, where the abuse occurred, or where the respondent can be served. The petition requires a sworn statement laying out the specific facts. An adult can file for themselves, for a minor, or for someone adjudicated incompetent, and employees or volunteers at domestic violence shelters can file on behalf of minors.5Justia Law. Arkansas Code 9-15-201 – Petition – Requirements Generally
This is the boundary to know: the Order of Protection framework in Chapter 15 is built for domestic abuse. If the person who shared your pictures is a stranger, a casual acquaintance, or anyone outside your household or dating history, this route may not be open to you. Your remedies in that case run through criminal charges and the civil damages statute.
How Long You Have to Act
Arkansas Code 5-1-109 sets the deadlines for bringing criminal charges:
- One year for misdemeanors, including base-level nonconsensual image distribution.
- Three years for Class B, C, and D felonies, which covers felony-level image distribution, sexual extortion, and child exploitation offenses.
- Six years for Class Y and Class A felonies.
The clock runs from the date of the offense, not from the date you discovered what happened.6FindLaw. Arkansas Code 5-1-109 – Time Limitations That’s a real problem in image cases, because people often don’t find out their pictures were shared until long after it happened. If you’ve just discovered something old, talk to a prosecutor or attorney quickly rather than assuming it’s too late.
If You or the Person in the Image Is Under 18
The rules change sharply when a minor is involved. Under Arkansas Code 5-27-304, knowingly possessing, distributing, selling, or receiving sexually explicit material depicting a child is a Class C felony on the first offense, carrying three to ten years, and a Class B felony on any subsequent offense, carrying five to twenty. The 2025 session also expanded this statute through House Bill 1877 to cover computer-generated and AI-generated images that are indistinguishable from real children.7Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-27-304 – Pandering or Possessing Visual or Print Medium Depicting Sexually Explicit Conduct Involving a Child8Arkansas State Legislature. Arkansas House Bill 1877 – 2025 Regular Session
Arkansas has no specific teen sexting diversion law. That means a teenager who sent an explicit selfie to a partner, and the partner who received it, can both technically face felony prosecution. Some prosecutors use education-based alternatives in consensual teen situations; others charge the full offense. Adults who solicit explicit images from minors face both state and federal prosecution, with no leniency built into either system. If a minor is in the picture, get a lawyer involved before you talk to anyone else about what happened.