Former Collier County deputy accused of posting revenge porn

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Collier County Sheriff’s Office vehicle. CREDIT: WINK News

NAPLES, Fla. — A Collier County deputy is out of a job Thursday following a year-long investigation into accusations involving revenge pornography.

Cpl. Vito Celiberti was fired after Rebekah Wells, his ex-girlfriend, said he may have posted naked pictures of her on a revenge porn website last year, according to police reports.

In 2015, Florida enacted revenge porn legislation that outlawed the online posting of explicit photos of a person against their will for the purpose of causing emotional distress. Websites exist that specialize in photos of ex-lovers, and some of those sites require payment to have those photos taken down.

Celibriti falsely claimed he didn’t send text messages to Wells saying he was going to compare explicit videos of her with her other ex-boyfriend, according to deputies.

He also looked up her personal information on a sheriff’s office database without proper authorization, according to the investigation.

Revenge porn is a way for an abuser to control a victim, said Linda Oberhaus, director of the Shelter for Abused Women and Children in Naples.

“I think it can be incredibly stressful for victims of revenge porn,” she said. “I know there have been cases where women have lost their jobs. … If you look at documented cases on Wikipedia, there are documented cases of women not [being] able to get jobs because of what is out there.”

Celiberti couldn’t be reached for comment.

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