After relationship turned sour, her nude photo, name and number were posted on sex work site

WARNING: This story contains details of intimate partner violence and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​it or know someone who has.

When Larissa Williams received a text message from an unknown number asking if she was taking new clients, she had no idea what the person was referring to. 

After a couple minutes of texting back and forth trying to understand what was going on, Williams was led to lyla.ch, a website commonly used by escorts and sex workers. 

Williams opened the site and was confronted with a photo of her naked body — an image she had only ever shared with her ex-boyfriend, Cory Lester. 

"It was one of the most surreal moments of my life," said Williams in a recent interview with CBC News at her home in Lower Sackville, N.S. "I was looking at an image of myself knowing that someone that I had loved and trusted had deeply betrayed me in a way I never could have imagined."

Her face wasn't visible in the photo but accompanying the image was her name, where she lived, her phone number and other personal information. 

Lester was ultimately found liable under Nova Scotia's Intimate Images and Cyber-protection Act. He was ordered to pay Williams $45,000 in damages plus $4,000 in court costs for posting the image and advertising her for sex work without her knowledge or permission in the summer of 2022.  

"He did so in an effort to harass and intimidate her following the demise of their romantic relationship," wrote Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Joshua Arnold in the court decision published Jan. 13, 2025. 

Arnold also described the incident as "retaliatory in nature following a domestic break-up," so he issued a 12-month no-contact order to prevent Lester from communicating with Williams. 

"Mr. Lester denied under oath being responsible for posting the image and ad, did nothing to assist in its removal from the internet, has accepted no responsibility and has offered no apology," wrote Arnold. 

This case is the first reported decision of its kind in Nova Scotia under the Intimate Images Act. 

While the lawsuit has brought Williams some degree of closure, she said there were many opportunities to hold Lester accountable before she had to pursue the case civilly. 

Lester was initially charged criminally for publishing the intimate image — which had remained online for about five weeks.

But in April 2023, the Crown stayed the charge, citing there was no realistic prospect of conviction, according to the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service. 

"It's a relatively new crime that we are learning about and that police are learning to investigate, so it's going to pose challenges," said Williams's lawyer, Emma Arnold, with the non-profit law firm People's Advocacy and Transformational Hub.

"But it's always disappointing when someone is harmed … and they can't get justice through the criminal justice system." 

'Let off the hook'

Williams said she and Lester were romantically involved on and off for about three years, and she and her young son even moved in with him for a short time. 

When the relationship ended abruptly in February 2021, she said that's when things took a turn for the worse. 

She and her son eventually moved back to their house just across the street from Lester's. 

Williams said he would shout at her from across the road, call her vulgar names and engage in unwanted contact.

She went to the RCMP and Lester was investigated for criminal harassment, but charges were not laid due to a lack of evidence, according to police records obtained by Williams through a freedom of information request. 

In December 2021, Williams and Lester filed peace bond applications against each other. Williams hoped it would prevent Lester from contacting her any further. 

Justice of the peace Bruce V. McLaughlin said in a hearing on June 7, 2022, that Lester's application against Williams was "vengeful," "retaliatory" and "designed to intimidate." 

McLaughlin said he had no doubt that Williams was fearful, but determined there was no "reasonable basis" for her fear and both applications were denied.

"Every single time he was kind of let off the hook," Williams told CBC. 

Exactly one month later, Lester posted Williams's nude photo online. 

No sense of safety

When she first discovered the image, Williams said she considered self-harm and essentially went into hiding. 

She worried that she and her son could be in danger, particularly since her location and phone number had been made public.  

"My life is extremely different and I don't know that it will ever be the same," she said. "That sense of safety that I had prior to this, it's just gone." 

Williams eventually learned that Lester even shared the image with a mutual neighbour, who ultimately deleted it.

"It also seemed like [Lester] wanted to prove to me that she was a prostitute or escort, and that she couldn't be trusted," wrote the neighbour in an affidavit. 

Setting a precedent 

Emma Arnold said this entire situation was a form of intimate partner violence, and she feels inspired by Williams for standing up for herself.

She added that although the monetary award in this case was on the lower end, the fact that it was the first reported decision in Nova Scotia will hopefully set a precedent, and encourage others who've experienced something similar to come forward knowing there are different avenues to pursue justice. 

"[Posting intimate images] is just one other form of abuse that is available to individuals now with the new technology that allows them to have this extra degree of control or power," said Emma Arnold. 

For Williams, following through with the lawsuit was about taking that power back and holding Lester accountable for his actions. 

"I have a son, and when he's older and I have to share this story with him, he needs to know that there are consequences for things of this nature," said Williams. 

She said she also felt compelled to share her story publicly after the deaths of six women in Nova Scotia who were killed by their partners within a span of just three months. 

"With the amount of intimate partner violence that is occurring, I feel like if it was addressed sooner where it's beginning … maybe it wouldn't escalate and become more severe, and in some cases result in the loss of life," said Williams. 

For anyone affected by family or intimate partner violence, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services. ​​If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.

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