Kootenay lawyer charged with sharing intimate images online

A Cranbrook lawyer has been charged with posting intimate images online.

James Michael Perry Lalonde was charged last month with five counts of publishing an intimate image dating back to between May 2021 and April 2022.

The 43-year-old lawyer had his first court appearance in Salmon Arm, June 23.

The BC Crown Prosecution Service confirmed the matter was moved from Cranbrook to Salmon Arm to avoid any conflict of interest.

Lalonde, who goes by the name Jamie, has been practicing law since 2013 and owns Lalonde Law, a Cranbrook law firm that specializes in employment law, estate litigation, and civil and corporate law.

Since the charges, the BC Law Society has begun an investigation and restricted Lalonde from practicing family or criminal law.

“The lawyer has undertaken that in the course of engaging in the practice of law, not to be alone in the presence of any person who identifies as a female, whether at their law office or at another location,” the BC Law Society practice restrictions read.

Details of what took place aren’t known, but court records show there were five separate incidents in which Lalonde is alleged to have shared an intimate image online.

The Canadian Criminal Code defines an intimate image as one whereby a person is nude, is exposing his or her genital organs or anal region or her breasts or is engaged in explicit sexual activity, and had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Sharing someone’s intimate image has been described by B.C.’s Attorney General as “sexualized violence,” and in 2024, the province brought in the Intimate Images Protection Act, allowing victims to sue through the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal. The online Tribunal, which largely deals with small claims cases, was given the power to order a person to remove the image and pay $5,000 compensation. Earlier this year, the compensation was raised to $75,000.

The Tribunal has resolved almost 400 cases since it was introduced two years ago.

Lalonde did not respond to our request for comment but forwarded it to his lawyer, who was concerned that he had not yet sought a ban on publication.

None of the allegations has been proven in court.