Ruby Campbell Macarthur pleads guilty in Port Macquarie court to recording intimate video with men
A Mid-North Coast horse trainer who illegally filmed a concerning sex act involving another woman and up to six men – which is now under investigation – has given no explanation for the crime. Here’s what we know.
Mid-North Coast
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A Mid-North Coast woman who illegally filmed a concerning sex act involving another woman and up to six men – now under investigation – has given no explanation or revealed any motive for the crime.
Port Macquarie woman Ruby Campbell Macarthur’s case came before Magistrate Georgina Darcy on Thursday.
Campbell’s lawyer attempted to divert the case from the criminal court to be dealt with under mental health legislation.
“I don’t understand what her motivation is,” Ms Darcy exclaimed after reading the police facts tendered in court.
“How could she allow this to happen to another woman and not assist?”
Macarthur, referred to as a horse trainer in court documents, has pleaded guilty to intentionally distributing an intimate image without consent and recording an intimate image without consent.
The offending occurred in the Port Macquarie region in October.
Macarthur appeared in court on Thursday with long waist-length black hair extensions and wearing a black pant suit and white runners.
It was a completely different look compared to when she faced the same court in December with blond hair and high heels.
Macarthur filmed the act involving a woman and up to six men, according to police facts tendered to the court, and during the recording a man could be heard directing others to perform certain actions.
Police state the next morning Macarthur sent the video to the woman, who had no recollection of the incident.
When the victim saw the video she texted Macarthur: “Please don’t send that to anyone, I’m begging you.”
She went to the police and reported an alleged sexual assault, which is under investigation.
Officers attended Macarthur’s home at Lake Innes about a month after the incident, where they found she still had the video on her phone.
She made admissions to filming without the woman’s consent and was able to identify one of the men and provide details to police.
Macarthur told police the males depicted in the video were all married men.
Macarthur’s lawyer told the court her client had Bipolar-2 and autism spectrum disorder – but the police prosecutor said she struggled to see the connection between the diagnoses and offending.
Ms Darcy agreed and said saying she failed to see the “nexus”. She said “Ms Macarthur was receiving treatment prior to this occurring”.
The magistrate declined to divert the case and ordered a sentence assessment report. She adjourned to March 14.
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