Question: I am a 42-year-old woman with a responsible job, two teen-aged children from my first marriage, and a recent divorce from my second husband after two years of marriage. I understood that my second ex-husband moved out of state, and I have not heard from him in months. I am now seeing a man whom I intend to marry, and my life was looking up – or at least I thought it was.

Several weeks ago, I began receiving unsolicited, very suggestive e-mails from a number of individuals. Coincidentally, a friend of mine called and told me that I should look at a certain Website on the Internet where I found a false profile of me and a number of “intimate” photographs for the public to see that my second husband had taken of me during our marriage. My business and personal e-mail addresses were posted, and the site suggested that those interested could contact me.

I immediately went to my divorce lawyer – whom I had not told about these pictures because my ex-husband had promised that he had destroyed them and because I was embarrassed – to find out what I could do. According to our separation agreement, I had 1) agreed that all properties in my possession belonged to me and those in my ex’s possession belonged to him, and 2) released my ex-husband from all future claims. I found out where my ex was working and called him, but he will not talk to me. I finally contacted the Website owners and managed to have the false profile taken down, but the same materials popped on another Website. What can I do?

Answer: Although your divorce lawyer tells you that yours is a case of “chagrin and bare it”, we don’t know if we agree. Having run into this problem before, we believe that while your divorce agreement on its face seems to close the door, there are several areas you may want to explore with a good tort lawyer that may lead to civil causes of action for injunction and damages.

For example: 1) If you own the copyrights to these photographs of yourself, your ex-husband and those who helped him may have violated your intellectual property rights. 2) In some states, the malicious dissemination of even truthful information may constitute defamation. 3) Not being a public person, you may be able to assert that your right to privacy is being violated. 4) Most states have causes of action called “outrage” or “intentional infliction of emotional distress,” which aptly describes your ex-husband’s conduct here. And, if one or more of 1) through 4) are available, you may also have a cause of action against the Internet Service Provider and Website owner that chose to post your pictures and false information about you without your consent.

But your situation points up two other vital issues: 1) To those going through divorce, remember that no matter how embarrassing it may be, tell your lawyer everything so that he or she can make sure to try to protect you; and 2) To matrimonial lawyers throughout the United States, make sure to ask your clients about these sensitive issues and consider making it a practice to include in your agreements appropriate language that will prevent this type of atrocious conduct.

Lastly, with the Internet so filled with false and misleading information, check socialization sites often to make sure you and your private information are not there without your knowledge and consent.