An Ohio jury has found political blogger DJ Byrnes guilty of telecommunications harassment after he texted an explicit image of Shrek to Republican state Sen. Jerry Cirino. On Friday, a judge ordered Byrnes, owner of the commentary blog The Rooster, to pay a $200 fine, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

The saga began in May when Byrnes texted Cirino - who had just dropped out of the state's Senate presidential race - a nude image of the animated ogre. The accompanying message read: "Good to see you finally made your humiliation public, Young Mussolini! THE PATRIOTS CAUCUS sends its regards!!!!!!!!!!"

Cirino filed a police report against Byrnes, describing the messages as "pornographic and harassing," per the Dispatch. In June, four state police officers arrested Byrnes at the Ohio statehouse. He was reportedly held in jail overnight even though he posted bail - presumably because the justice system also needed time to process what it had just seen.

"I can't wait for the jury to see the image that he sent to me," Cirino said ahead of the trial, according to the Dispatch. Byrnes pleaded not guilty to telecommunications harassment, arguing the text was protected free speech.

"This wasn't a free speech issue; this was a harassment statute that I believed he was in violation of," Cirino said following the ruling, as reported by News 5 Cleveland. "Obviously, he's free to write on his blog whatever he wants. I just don't want to be accosted in the Statehouse in the future."

The case raises profound legal questions, such as: at what point does a cartoon character cease to be a cartoon character and become, legally speaking, a problem? The jury has spoken: apparently, right around the $200 mark.