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Dani Mathers, the Playboy playmate who was rightfully criticized after she posted a rude picture body-shaming a naked 70-year-old woman at an LA Fitness gym, has officially been charged with invasion of privacy by the Los Angeles City Attorney, reports TMZ. Mather posted the above images to her public Snapchat story back in July, including the caption "If I can't unsee this then you can't either."
Because photographing another person in the nude without their consent definitely illegal under the 2004 Video Voyeurism act, LAPD launched an investigation into the incident after the story was widely publicized. Police managed to locate the woman in the photograph by September, and she emphasized at the time that she was interested in pressing formal charges against Mathers.
Now, we learn that the L.A. City Attorney's office agrees that charges are a good idea. The misdemeanor invasion of privacy count Mathers has been charged with carries a maximum sentence of six-months in jail, and a $1,000 fine, according to The Wrap.
"Body-shaming is humiliating, with often painful, long-term consequences," said L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer, in a statement. “It mocks and stigmatizes its victims, tearing down self-respect and perpetuating the harmful idea that our unique physical appearances should be compared to air-brushed notions of 'perfect.' What really matters is our character and humanity. While body-shaming, in itself, is not a crime, there are circumstances in which invading one's privacy to accomplish it can be. And we shouldn’t tolerate that."
Mathers offered an apology for taking the picture back in July, saying in a video response that she was new to Snapchat and hadn't intended to post the picture to her public story:
Of course, as fellow LAist writer Juliet Bennett Rylah pointed out way back in July, people weren't mad at Mathers for posting the picture publicly instead of privately, but rather that she took the picture in the first place. Even if the photo was posted privately, it wouldn't do anything to diminish its outright meanness.
Anyway, since the photo-sharing incident happened, Mathers has been banned from all LA Fitness locations. She also lost her job with 95.5 KLOS FM, where she was a regular contributor to The Heidi and Frank Show.
