Luke Gosper pleads guilty to threatening ex with revenge porn

A young man threatened to expose intimate images of his ex-girlfriend to Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram unless she agreed to his one demand.

A young Goulburn man was so distraught after he broke up with his girlfriend, he tried to force her back into a relationship by threatening revenge porn.

Luke Martin Gosper, 22, fronted Moss Vale Local Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to threatening to distribute an intimate image without consent and using his mobile to harass his ex-girlfriend on the night of February 20.

Police allege Mr Gosper threatened to post intimate images of his ex on Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook if she didn’t get back together with him.

After the breakdown of their relationship on February 18, Gosper allegedly texted the victim to ask her to give the relationship a second chance. When the victim asked him to stop, court documents claim he then threatened to release an intimate photo of her.

“Do you want to f**k with my feeling(s) I’m going to f**k with your life forever,” the documents read.

“Your photos are getting posted to Facebook as we speak.”

Luke Gosper appeared at Moss Vale Local Court flanked by friends.

The victim then allegedly received a message telling her to look on Instagram, where she saw an intimate photo that she had shared with Gosper during their relationship. The court heard Gosper continued to threaten to post the image to social media platforms if the victim didn’t agree to resume their relationship.

Court documents show he then demanded she change her relationship status on Facebook to being in a relationship with him and, when that wasn’t done, he posted the image to Snapchat. They reveal that “the threats have caused the victim a significant amount of fear, embarrassment and anxiety”.

When arrested on February 21, Gosper admitted to police he had used the photos to blackmail the victim.

Court documents also reveal Gosper sent a barrage of approximately a hundred texts over two days, many of which were abusive.

Magistrate Mark Douglass didn’t downplay the gravity of the offences.

“What you’ve done is wrong,” he said.

“What you’ve done is unlawful and it’s generally pretty serious.”

Luke Gosper was arrested on February 21 after threatening his ex-girlfriend.

There was some confusion in the court as to whether the images had actually been posted on social media or whether they had been doctored to appear as though they had been.

Gosper’s lawyer argued his client had the foresight not to actually follow through on his threats to post the intimate images online.

“My understanding is that he was able to edit the image as such as to make it appear that he has posted it instead of actually posting it,” he said.

However, Police Prosecutor Peter Robinson strongly contested this view. He said the image was distributed on both Instagram and Mr Gosper’s Snapchat story, which would appear to all of his friends on the platforms.

“It was not a threat that he would – he did,” he said.

The matter has been adjourned so there can be more clarity about this distinction and its impact on sentencing.

Gosper will reappear at Moss Vale Court on April 20.

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