73yo faces court for posting intimate images on Facebook Marketplace

A court has heard how a man stalked a woman and used her images to sell the lingerie he had bought her on Facebook Marketplace.

A Booval man has faced court for stalking a woman and posting revealing images of her on Facebook Marketplace that were circulated to at least 10 community groups.

Robin Garry Gower, 73, pleaded guilty on August 12, 2022, to one count of unlawful stalking (DV) and one count of distributing intimate images (DV).

The court heard that in April this year, Gower posted images of a woman wearing lingerie that he had previously bought for her on Facebook Marketplace – intending to sell the lingerie.

The photos circulated to at least 10 Facebook community pages, and the woman notified the police that they had been posted without her consent.

The woman further received small bank transfers from Gower with messages attached including “a dollar deposit to rip off Rob”, and “this person has robbed me for $30,000 which I need to help pay for an operation for my daughter”.

The court heard that Gower and the woman had previously had an intimate relationship, during which he gifted her $20,000 and loaned her a further $15,000 – which she had been paying him back when their relationship soured.

Magistrate Leanne Scoines said the woman was distressed about the messages and had also received a message from an unknown man on April 13 asking whether she would have sex with him for money.

She said Gower had later admitted to knowing the other man and playing a part in the message.

“This is a very serious nasty kind of offending behaviour … It would have been upsetting for this lady,” said Ms Scoines.

Defence lawyer Matthew Fairclough said although Gower hadn’t dealt with their relationship breakdown in an “appropriate way”, his offending was out of character.

The court heard Gower had a limited criminal history, that he suffered several health difficulties, and that several of his acquaintances had put forward statements defending his character.

Gower was ultimately fined $1000, and no convictions were recorded.