REVENGE PORN: Man sent photos and videos of teen girlfriend

The Mackay 21 year old was charged with distributing child abuse material over the ‘spiteful’ conduct

A Mackay man has pleaded guilty to distributing child abuse material after sending explicit images and videos of his 16 year old ex girlfriend over social media.

A REVENGE porn offender was labelled "spiteful" and "immature" for sending sexual images and videos of his former girlfriend to others over social media after they broke up.

Mackay District Court heard the 21 year old then blamed the victim, saying he was angry the girl cheated on him during their relationship.

Now 22, he walked free from the courthouse after he was handed a non-custodial penalty but he must abide by strict conditions for the next two years.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child abuse material in between June 2018 and March 2019, an offence which has a maximum penalty of 15 years jail.

"I wonder if you thought about that when you did what you did on those two discreet occasions," Judge Nathan Jarro said.

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The court heard he and the victim, who was 16, had been in a relationship for about eight months before breaking up. The relationship included the taking of consensual sexual photos and videos.

Late on March 16 last year the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, contacted the teen to meet and talk about why they broke up - she refused.

The court heard he contacted again her to say his Snapchat had been hacked and "all of her photographs and videos" had been sent to others.

The following day a former primary school friend told her he had been sent explicit images and video of her over Instagram.

 

She was sent screenshots of the images and videos that had been shared and recognised them to be those taken on the man's mobile phone while the two were in a relationship.

When she contacted the man, he claimed someone else had done it.

On March 19 at school she spoke to other students who had seen images of her on social media over the weekend.

"She left school in a distressed state," Judge Jarro said.

The court heard one of the charges came about through his own admissions to police.

Commonwealth prosecutor Chris Moore pushed for a custodial penalty highlighting the important of deterrence to others.

Mr Moore said the man's conduct when speaking with police "can only be categorised at victim blaming" - he told police he had been angry because she cheated on him several times.

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Defence barrister Scott McLennan, for Legal Aid Queensland, said his client had been "cruelly bullied" at high school because of a severe intellectual impairment and speech impediment and argued he would face a more difficult time in jail than someone else without these incapacities.

A psychologist report tendered in court described three factors behind the offending - the man's anger towards the girl, his low level of intellectual processing capacity and intoxication.

The court heard the man "was blind" when he sent out the explicit material.

Mr McLennan conceded the conduct was immature and a gross breach of trust, but said the psychologist found there was nothing to suggest his client was a paedophile and a risk to children.

The court heard the man did not view the photos and videos as child exploitation material.

Judge Jarro labelled the offending as "clearly spiteful … immature and reckless" and "akin to revenge porn".

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"I note while you obtained the content with the consent of your then girlfriend, there's a reason why you're standing in the dock today and that's because of the seriousness of your offending," Judge Jarro said.

"You did not have her permission to send them to other people."

Judge Jarro agreed with Mr McLennan's push and placed the man on a 12-month intensive corrections order, which is a term of imprisonment that is served in the community.

For the next year he must comply with conditions including participating in community service, twice weekly reporting and counselling.

Judge Jarro also jailed the man for 12 months with immediate released on a two-year good behaviour bond coinciding with a two-year probation order.

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