My kidnapping and rape exposed privacy loophole in justice system | Opinion
In 2015, I was kidnapped, drugged and raped twice by a man who recorded the assaults on video, documenting the most humiliating and terrifying moments of my life. Then, even after my assailant was in custody, I was violated again by a justice system that lacked the proper guardrails to protect the privacy of adult assault survivors.
I am not alone in enduring this indignity. Now California lawmakers are supporting a bill to strengthen protections for adult survivors, setting a standard for other states to follow.
California’s Assembly Public Safety Committee is expected to take up Senate Bill 1056, authored by Sen. Tim Grayson, D-Orinda. The bill would require courts to issue protective orders governing sexually explicit evidence in covered adult cases, establishing safeguards against unnecessary copying, dissemination and retention of that material. The measure is now before the Assembly and is scheduled for a hearing on June 30.
The lack of such clear guidance has become a pressing issue as modern criminal cases increasingly rely on digital evidence, including recordings of alleged sexual assaults, intimate images, medical records and private communications.
My husband, Aaron Quinn, and I will be at the Assembly to testify, as we did in the Senate, to our harrowing experience.
It was March 2015, and Aaron — my boyfriend at the time — and I were asleep in his Vallejo house when we were attacked by a stranger. Our assailant kidnapped me, drugged and raped me and threatened to release the footage of the assaults online if I dared speak to police. The story of our attack and my kidnapping gained national attention after police initially claimed the story was all made up. The ensuing media frenzy wrongly labeled me “the real-life Gone Girl” and our experience eventually became a Netflix docuseries, “American Nightmare.”
What followed was not only trauma from the crime itself, but trauma from the system that was supposed to protect me.
Months after my kidnapping, the assailant was finally arrested for another crime and evidence linked him to ours. When he was caught, he had a laptop with recordings of him raping me — footage that allowed him to relive and repeat that violation with each viewing.
The violation did not end with his arrest.
Because the assailant chose to serve as his own attorney, he not only had the right to cross-examine me at the preliminary hearing, he was also allowed access to view the footage of the rapes yet again, reliving the torment he put me through. But I accepted that as his legal right because I believe in due process.
What I never imagined, however, was that his then-wife, who was working as his paralegal, would be provided copies of the footage that she was able to have in her home, left unsecured for years after he was sentenced and the case had ended.
Had SB 1056 been in place at the time, the court would have been required to impose rules governing who could access that footage, how it could be viewed and retained and what happened to it after the case ended — protections not available to me.
No survivor should have to endure that repeated trauma. That’s why it’s essential California lawmakers enact SB 1056, which would require mandatory protective orders for sexually explicit evidence in adult cases, prohibiting unnecessary copying, dissemination and retention of that material.
California and many other states already recognized the importance of protecting this same material for children. Adult survivors deserve the same protection. Oregon and North Carolina have moved to put similar protections in place for adults, and we need to press for other states to do the same.
Protecting privacy is not about weakening the rights of the accused. It’s about acknowledging and valuing the huge sacrifice survivors make by entrusting the legal system with their well-being.
If victims do not feel safe and protected, they will not come forward. And predators become emboldened and empowered to attack more innocent lives.
Digital recordings are easier than ever to copy, store and distribute. We have tragically seen this play out with the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. Without clear guardrails, materials that document a crime can quickly become another source of harm.
Thankfully, California lawmakers are listening and taking action. This bill demonstrates a commitment towards survivors that justice doesn’t mean surrendering your privacy forever.
Denise Huskins Quinn is a survivor, author and advocate featured in Netflix’s American Nightmare, which recounts her 2015 kidnapping and the systemic re-traumatization that followed. She is the co-author of “Victim F” and now advocates for survivor privacy and justice reform, serving as a key architect behind California’s Senate Bill 1056.
This story was originally published June 27, 2026 at 6:00 AM with the headline "My kidnapping and rape exposed privacy loophole in justice system | Opinion."