Daniel Igoe: ADFA cadet spared jail over Snapchat threesome saga
A former private schoolboy and promising military cadet watched on as he was handed his punishment for filming a drunken threesome on base before sending it to mates with the caption “threesomes with (another soldier) are fun”.
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A former Australian Defence Force Academy cadet who secretly filmed a drunken threesome on base and sent it to his mates on Snapchat has been spared jail over what army prosecutors described as “abhorrent” behaviour.
Daniel Igoe, a private schoolboy from Brisbane, captioned the lude footage “threesomes with (another soldier) are fun” his Defence Force Magistrate sentencing hearing at Sydney’s Victoria Barracks was told.
The agreed facts of the case state Igoe, the female and male soldiers headed back to base after drinks at Bleachers Sports Bar in Canberra as part of the ADFA rugby club’s Silly Saturday celebrations.
During the sexual encounter between the trio last August, the hearing was told, Igoe secretly filmed it and sent a 10 second video to two female soldiers and a civilian friend.
The soldiers had then shown the footage on their phones to other cadets but it was never saved or stored by them.
Igoe, now 22, took to Facebook to apologise to one of them, admitting he sent it by accident, the court heard.
A psychologist who assessed the young cadet told the hearing on Friday Igoe said he “drank the most he has ever drank in his life” on the night in question and was remorseful for throwing away his military career.
Igoe had told the same psychologist he intended to now join the police force and has been diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety and depression.
He had pleaded guilty to capturing visual data and non-consensual sharing of intimate images earlier this year.
Igoe was appearing at the virtual hearing from Canberra.
Two-star general and head of military prosecutions Brigadier Jennifer Woodward had also dialled in from Brisbane to watch the case as prosecutors outlined how Igoe’s actions could undo years of work done since the infamous 2011 ADFA Skype sex scandal.
“The offending has potential to seriously undermine discipline in the defence force and the ADFA cultural changes that have been promoted over a number of years,” prosecutor Major Cassandra Kanaley said.
“(And) the public’s trust and respect for the defence force as well as a willingness of parents to send their children – young males and females – to ADFA when conduct such as this still occurs.”
Igoe’s defence lawyer Lieutenant Russell Clutterbuck said the young cadet had not meant for the footage to be sent on Snapchat and then distributed to others and had suffered extra punishment as a result of the case being covered by the media.
His defence also said Igoe had apologised to the woman in the video.
Magistrate Commander Gregory Sitres decided not to send Igoe to jail but instead dismissed him from the ADF on both charges.
“It was a horrendous violation of the complainant’s right to have a private life and to maintain a reputation among her colleagues and friendship circle,” Magistrate Sitres said.
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