Cody Pratt: Army lieutenant pleads guilty to six ‘revenge porn’ charges

A lieutenant has been described as a mature leader despite showing his mates a video of himself receiving oral sex while watching The Wolf of Wall Street along with other pictures.

Lieutenant Cody Pratt (inset) has admitted he showed his army mates a video of a woman performing oral sex on him while he watched the movie The Wolf of Wall Street.

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An army officer faces the sack and potential jail time after admitting to filming himself receiving oral sex while watching The Wolf of Wall Street, then showing the video to mates, among a string of other “revenge porn” offences.

Brisbane-based Lieutenant Cody Pratt, 23, faced a Defence Force Magistrates Court hearing in Canberra on Tuesday where he admitted to six counts of distributing intimate images without consent.

The court heard Pratt, while posted in Townsville, showed his army mates a photo of the woman sexually “hogtied”, and in other compromising positions.

While drinking at Crown Casino in Melbourne, Pratt showed another friend a photo of the woman using a sex toy.

Lieutenant Cody Pratt (in uniform) treated a woman like a “peace of meat” by showing intimate photos of her to his army mates. Picture: ADF/Supplied

Among the videos Cody Pratt showed his mates was of a woman performing oral sex on him while he watched The Wolf of Wall Street.

In total, four junior army officers other than Pratt saw the photos and videos: Lieutenant Jamie Curcio, Lieutenant Cameron Gibbs, Staff Cadet Lachlan Curran and Lieutenant Claire Duffy.

None of the other officers are accused of any wrongdoing.

Pratt’s victim told the court it had been humiliating to know other people had seen photos and videos which she only thought Pratt would see.

“It was not OK for me to be treated like a piece of meat,” she said.

Prosecuting officer Major Cassandra Kanaley said Pratt’s behaviour undermined public trust in the military and showed a disregard for the victim’s privacy.

A string of senior officers, giving evidence on Pratt’s behalf, put the episode down to a “lack of judgment” or immaturity.

Major Luke O’Brien said Pratt was a young officer “with charisma”.

Major Ben Gytevay said he was “surprised” to learn what Pratt had done, that he should keep his job in the army, and that he was a mature leader.

“It would be a shame to lose the member for something that I consider to be out of character,” he said.

Defence Force Magistrate Brigadier Michael Cowen QC said it was “difficult to sustain … that behaviour is out of character when it’s repeated”.

“I have no doubt that you can be mature in certain ways and can be puerile in others,” he said.

He said Pratt’s offending was a “gross and egregious breach” of the woman’s trust.

Brigadier Cowen will sentence Pratt on Wednesday.