43-year-old Lindsay Marsh of Utah felt shocked and confused when she looked at the list of things her ex-husband requested as part of their divorce.
Her ex-husband, Chris Marsh, asked for boudoir albums she had taken years before their marriage and gave him as a gift. The couple were married for 25 years. However, after filing for divorce in April, Lindsay couldn’t wait to get rid of those albums. She couldn't understand why her ex-husband would want them.
Chris, meanwhile, stated he wanted to save the loving messages she wrote to him inside those books. So a Davis County judge made an unusual order that made her feel violated: He directed her to give the boudoir albums to the original photographer to be edited and give them to her ex-husband.
“That person is to do whatever it takes to modify the pages of the pictures so that any photographs of [Lindsay Marsh] in lingerie or that sort of thing or even without clothing are obscured and taken out,” 2nd District Judge Michael Edwards wrote in a ruling shared with The Salt Lake Tribune, “but the words are maintained for memory’s sake.”, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
The couple negotiated the splitting of the rest of their assets, according to Lindsay. This was the only disagreement that Edwards had ruled on. Lindsay reached out to the original photographer, who was a close friend who ran a boudoir photography business. However, the friend declined to edit the photos for fear that it could damage her business.
The judge then ordered in August for a third party to edit the photos. According to Lindsay, it is a man she did not know. So, she called the judge's clerks' office to verify. "The judge has ordered me to give nude photos of my body to a third party that I don't know without my consent?" The answer was yes.
When she told the original photographer of the judge’s order, she agreed to alter the photos. Lindsay's friend took photographs of each page and digitally altered them. She placed large black boxes over any part of Lindsay's body but the inscriptions and notes remain.
Linsay said the digital copies were printed on paper, fastened together, and given to her ex-husband.
Meanwhile, Chris pointed out that the books were full of memories, inscriptions, and photos, and categorized them as not inappropriate-type books. He also said that some of the photos in the books were posted online, or hung in their home when they were still married. "I never asked for the photos, I asked for the inscriptions." He said that the judge gave her an opportunity to redact and copy the album pages herself then turn them over. She did not have to hand them to a third party to edit, he added, Fox News reported.
Lindsay was ordered to keep the photos for 90 days in case her ex-husband has any objections to the alterations, according to Yahoo! News.
