Courts convict 166 over revenge porn

More than 166 people have been convicted of tougher revenge porn laws since they were introduced 2019 after it was revealed a shocking one in five women aged 18-45 had been victims.

Tougher revenge porn laws have netted more than 166 offenders since they were introduced by the State Government in early 2019.

The two new offences of distributing intimate images and threats to distribute intimate images or recordings followed a report from the eSafety Commissioner showing one in five women aged 18-45 had been victims of revenge porn.

The report revealed women were also twice as likely to be victims of image-based abuse.

An analysis of Queensland court data showed more than 166 people have been convicted of the new offences from February 2019 to June 30 2022.

Of these 142, or 86 per cent, were men.

Among them was one Taskeen Hassan who repeatedly posted sexually explicit videos of his former girlfriend on the world’s biggest porn site.

The 34-year-old pleaded guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court to three counts of distributing visual recordings, distributing intimate images and other offences in November 2020.

Taskeen Hassan leaves the Brisbane Magistrates Court after being convicted of distributing prohibited visual recordings of his former partner to Pornhub. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

Hassan uploaded a consensually made video of his ex-partner engaging in sexual activity to the adult website Pornhub without her consent and uploaded it again after taking it down at her request.

The distraught woman again had to ask him to remove the video, which he did, only to upload it on another occasion.

The court heard he had mental health issues including a diagnosis for Borderline Personality Disorder. Hassan was sentenced to nine months prison, wholly suspended, and placed on a three year probation order.

Johnny Ledua Toloi, 50, was sentenced to two months jail wholly suspended in April after committing “insidious and appalling” revenge porn abuse against a former partner.

Toloi pleaded guilty to one count each of distributing intimate images and threatening to distribute intimate images after publicly posting an intimate photo of the woman, taken consensually, to Twitter tagging the victim and a former employer.

He had earlier texted the victim that going to jail would be “peanuts compared to what you and your family … will feel.”

Toloi’s lawyer told Brisbane Magistrates Court that his client, who had no previous criminal history, let “his emotions get the better of him” after the couple broke up.

Magistrate Belinda Merrin said Toloi’s behaviour was “demeaning, it was derogatory, it was meant to hurt and harm”.

But it wasn’t only men who fell foul of the new laws. North Lakes OnlyFans content creator Phybie Marie Sloss pleaded guilty in the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court today to distributing intimate images without consent in June.

Sloss had posted three intimate images and one video, depicting a sexual act between her and an ex-lover, on her OnlyFans page to get back at his new partner.

Her lawyer told the court Sloss posted the material out of “pettiness” because of an argument with her former lover and his current partner.

Sloss was placed on a $300 three month good behaviour bond with no conviction recorded.

Since the offences were introduced 49 people have been jailed for revenge porn.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the government took the issue seriously.

The largest jail sentence handed down for distributing intimate images was two years imprisonment.

For threats to distribute intimate images or recordings the longest imprisonment was 18 months jail.

The largest fines for the offences were $2,200 and $2,500 respectively.

The data shows most offenders were aged 20 to 29 years. The 30 to 39 age cohort followed closely behind.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the government took the issue seriously and cited the fact a person could be charged for threatening to send revenge porn even if the image or recording didn’t actually exist.

“The non-consensual sharing of intimate images, sometimes referred to as ‘revenge porn’, is a harmful act often committed by perpetrators seeking to shame or coerce a person through sharing or threatening to share images, visual recordings or digitally altered images designed to portray a person in an intimate or sexual way,” the spokesperson said.

“Often these images are acquired in the context of a relationship where the pictured person shares the image consensually and in confidence. The behaviours linked to these types of acts are not always motivated by revenge.”

A person under 16 years of age cannot legally give consent to sharing an intimate image of themselves.