New York man jailed after forcing his ex-girlfriend to walk down the street completely naked

Last month, a video emerged of a woman walking through the streets of New York completely naked. She was being led by a man who repeatedly told her things like, "You're going to pay the price for being a whore," and, "I could kill you right now, I'm capable of anything." Though this may sound like something from Game of Thrones or even Black Mirror, it was unfortunately real life. The woman - who has not been named - was just 24 years old, and the man torturing her was Jason Melo, her boyfriend. According to him, he forced the young woman to go nude in public as a punishment for talking to other men, but the full extent of his sadistic behavior was not revealed until the case went to trial. Not only did Melo force his girlfriend to expose herself in public, he also tortured her for two hours beforehand. As well as threatening her both verbally and physically, Melo implied that he could kill the woman if she did not comply with his directions. "He grabbed my neck, and forced it really hard. I was losing breath," she said in court on Monday. Fearing for her life - and that of the two-month-old baby the couple have - the young woman was forced to strip naked and walk through a Harlem street. All the while, Melo filmed her desperate attempts to cover herself up, and repeatedly told her that she was a "whore". Later on, the 26-year-old man posted the footage to Live Leak, and even attempted to sell merchandise which displayed quotes from the ordeal. Thankfully, he was arrested after the victim reported the incident to the police the following day. Addressing the court this week, District Attorney Cyrus Vance described the sheer malice of Melo's actions.

"Jason Melo assaulted his former girlfriend, then forced her to walk naked, in the middle of winter, down a public street while their two-month-old baby was left unattended upstairs," he said.

"To further degrade her, he recorded the ordeal, then had the audacity to brag about his actions, sharing the video with multiple friends and even attempting to profit from it.

"This defendant has never demonstrated an ounce of remorse for his disgusting and violent conduct. I thank the survivor in this case for her incredible bravery in coming forward and testifying against her former domestic partner at trial. Thankfully, because of her courage, he is being held accountable." When he was first apprehended, Melo attempted to defend his actions by saying, "I didn't hit her or anything. Even the detectives are here with me and some of them congratulated me because they see how happy she is and I didn't pull her hair or anything." He also stated, "Some of the other prisoners are also on my side and they say some of them would have done worse things." Melo has since been charged with felony coercion and assault, as well as endangering the welfare of a child. He faces up to seven years behind bars for the first count.