QCOSTARICA – Gathering evidence of alleged infidelity by his spouse, amid a divorce, a man was sentenced to six months in jail for stealing information from his now ex-wife’s cellular phone.
The man, only identified as bank employee, was also order to pay his ex-wife ¢2.5 million colones, and the same amount to her friend, whom had sent her the text message.
But, the man won’t be spending any time in jail, the sole judge of the Cartago Criminal Court (Tribunal Penal de Cartago), Shirley Moraga, commuted the sentence to probation.
The story dates back to 2009, when the man suspected his wife was cheating on him. The court record indicates that while she was in the bath he would review her text messages, including taking a screen shots and forwarding himself the messages.
Through the marriage the couple had separated and reconciled, the marriage finally ended in divorce.
In her judgement, Judge Morafa, said the man’s jealousy led him to suspicion and the information he obtained “was not accidental … taken with the intention of ending the marriage.”
There are have been a number of case of significant others obtaining private information illicitly, and in some cases, such as the Karina Bolaños case in 2012, a sexy video of her was published. The video went viral on the social media and cost Bolaños her job as deputy minister of Culture in the Chinchilla administration (2010-2014).
The Penal Code (Codigo Penal) in Costa Rica establishes criminal liability for the violation of privacy and communications, even if between spouses.
However, complicated, in many cases, proving criminal intention and in the case such as the Bolaños, imposwho leaked the communication and who published it.
Via Nacion.com
I’m lost. If spouses suspect their partners of infidelity, they are forbidden by law to read the text messages in their partners’ cell phone to verify their suspicions? Does it follow that they can’t look at their partner’s emails or overhear their phone conversations? I’m wondering how then the spouse of a cheating partner is ever going to know.
It’s all well and good to protect people’s privacy, and in general Costa Rica does far too little of that. You might as well have your cedula number stamped on your forehead for all the more confidential that is, and you can’t rent a CD without supplying the store with the names and addresses of family members, as well as all your own personal information. But a spouse with an unfaithful partner can’t even read text messages to find out?
Maybe there’s more to this story than recounted, but as recounted it is not like posting a lewd video of a former lover online. That is an invasion of privacy for sure. But if a spouse who suspects a partner is cheating only reads her text messages to find out, that doesn’t strike me as an invasion of privacy. Heck, it strikes me as the logical and least intrusive way to find out.