A review by the Utah Department of Public Safety found the officer showed the images to colleagues and reportedly made "unprofessional comments" about being able to look at the pictures "whenever he wanted".
Tragically, Rowland did more than just threaten to harm McCluskey. He shot and killed the 21-year-old in a car near a residential building on campus in 2018 before turning the gun on himself.
This week, more than two years after her murder, the Governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, signed three bills dealing with revenge porn laws and policing in the state that arose from the investigation into McCluskey's case.
Lauren McCluskey, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, warned police about him before her death. Photo / AP
Local news reports say one of the new laws specifically outlaws sharing intimate or compromising images without consent outside legitimate law enforcement purposes. Under the law, it doesn't matter if the victim is alive or dead.
McCluskey's parents, Jill and Matt McCluskey, reached a settlement with the university in October last year for US$10.5 million ($14.6m). ABC News reports the university is also donating US$3 million to the Lauren McCluskey Foundation.
The university acknowledged what it had done wrong and expressed "deep regret" for the way it handled McCluskey's case when it was first brought before campus police.
"The university acknowledges and deeply regrets that it did not handle Lauren's case as it should have and that, at the time, its employees failed to fully understand and respond appropriately to Lauren's situation," University of Utah president Ruth Watkins said.
"As a result, we have failed Lauren and her family. If these employees had more complete training and protocols to guide their responses, the university believes they would have been better equipped to protect Lauren."
Rowland, who was on parole when he met McCluskey, had been convicted of enticing a minor. Despite McCluskey and her friends reporting abusive behaviour to police, Matt McCluskey says they never treated the case with the seriousness that it deserved.
"They seemed to show no curiosity about this person who had lied about his age, his name - he was a sex offender," he said. "And then they found out that he's also a felon.
"They should've investigated … They would've very quickly found his parole status in one call and we wouldn't be sitting here today."
The Lauren McCluskey Foundation supports her charity work with donations towards animal welfare, campus safety and amateur athletics.
A footnote on the foundation's website reads: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
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