Rep. Barton suggests he's victim of revenge porn: What is that?

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Sharing of Rep. Barton's explicit photo a crime?

Legal panel weighs in on 'America's Newsroom.'

After a nude photo of Republican Rep. Joe Barton surfaced online, the Texas lawmaker suggested that he is the victim of revenge porn.

There’s no federal law against revenge porn – commonly defined as the sharing or distributing of lewd photos or videos without the materials’ subject’s consent – but many states have laws against it.

After the picture surfaced, Barton admitted to engaging in consensual relationships with “other mature adult women” when he was separated from his second wife. He apologized for not using “better judgment during those days.”

It’s unclear who shared the photo of Barton on the anonymous Twitter account, but he did warn the woman with whom he had shared “inappropriate photographs and videos with” against making those public in 2015. That woman told the Washington Post that she did not publish the photo online.

What is revenge porn?

Revenge porn is defined by Merriam-Webster as “sexually explicit images of a person posted online without that person’s consent, especially as a form of revenge or harassment.”

The term “revenge porn” can be misleading, according to activists.

REP. JOE BARTON WARNED WOMAN HE’D TELL POLICE IF SHE SHARED EXPLICIT PHOTOS, MESSAGES

“Many perpetrators are not motivated by revenge or by any personal feelings toward the victim,” the nonprofit Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) says. The group says the term “nonconsensual pornography” is more “accurate.”

What does federal law say about revenge porn?

There is no federal law that particularly makes revenge porn illegal.

How do states adjudicate it?

There are 38 states that have revenge porn laws, according to CCRI. Washington, D.C., classifies it as a felony.

Texas, where Barton lives when he’s not in the District of Columbia, classifies revenge porn as a Class A misdemeanor, not unlike other states.

Illinois has strong anti-revenge porn laws, according to C.A. Goldberg, PLLC, a Brooklyn-based law firm. Passed in 2014, Illinois law punishes offenders with one to three years in prison and a fine that could reach $25,000.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.