Scorned Ballarat lover Stacey Burton avoids jail after posting intimate pic of girl on Snapchat
A vengeful and “immature” Ballarat mum who posted a nude pic of her love-triangle rival on Snapchat has been slammed in court.
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A scorned Ballarat lover who posted a nude pic of her ex-boyfriend’s new flame after attempting to extort $5200 has avoided jail.
Stacey Burton, 22, was sentenced to a three-year community corrections order with 300 hours’ community work before the County Court on Monday after pleading guilty to making an unwarranted demand with menaces and intentionally distribute an intimate image of another.
Burton, from Wendouree, targeted her former partner Codie Carter’s new girlfriend while in a fit of jealous rage in March 2019.
She threatened to post an intimate photo of her love rival — which depicted the victim’s breasts — on social media if she was not paid a $5200 ransom.
Burton sent the image to Carter’s mobile phone and messaged her victim via Facebook to show she meant business.
“Give me my money back that Codie owes me …,” Burton said.
“(Or else) everyone will see more than your ugly f***in head online.”
Burton claimed Mr Carter had originally forwarded the image to her, the court was told.
The victim, a young woman, did not comply with Burton’s demands.
Burton later posted the lewd image and tagged her victim on Snapchat in October 2019.
The court was told Burton removed her post after only 30 minutes.
However, the photo was seen by and screenshotted by several Snapchat users before it was taken down, the court heard.
Burton, who worked full-time for VicRoads Ballarat up until April, was arrested and interviewed by police in January last year.
She said she removed the image and apologised to her victim whom she had “never met or anything”.
“(The offending) probably makes (the victim) feel like shit,” Burton told investigators.
The victim had earlier taken out a personal safety intervention order on her aggressor but it barely stopped Burton.
Burton, a mother of two who has a child to Mr Carter, brewed-up a fresh bee in her bonnet towards her victim in late-2020.
Burton sent the victim a barrage of abusive messages — including 35 in a single day — via Instagram and Facebook Messenger.
Burton sent the victim a photo of herself and Mr Carter with a message which said “I’m a mutt”.
Burton sent a later image which said “congratulations you win”.
The victim said, in her impact statement read to the court, the offending left her “horrified”.
“We have never met but she seems to blame me for everything that went wrong with the father of her children,” the victim said.
“I’m horrified to know how far the photos went and who saw them …
“I live in fear someone will see my pictures and recognise me and I will be humiliated again.
“It fills me with shame and embarrassment.”
The victim also pleaded with the court to lock Burton up.
“What example are you setting for your own daughters,” the victim said.
“What happened to me hasn’t gone away, it will never go away”
“Why should this person … be free.”
The victim said Mr Carter was back with Burton and she feared how his relationship with their child would be affected.
At Burton’s plea hearing, her lawyer submitted Burton’s crimes were the actions of an “immature” 22-year-old woman in the context of a “love-triangle”.
“(The offending) is indicative of her immature world view,” the defence submitted.
Judge Mark Gamble said Burton’s premeditated actions were clearly designed to cause the victim hurt and shame.
“This instance of blackmail was nasty, cruel and vindictive,” the Judge said.
Judge Gamble said Burton needed to understand there were appropriate ways to deal with relationship difficulties in the future.
Judge Gamble said Burton’s crimes presented a very difficult sentencing task, with serious crimes having been committed by an immature offender, and courts keen to keep new and young offenders away from the negative influences in prison.
The court heard Burton had been sacked by VicRoads days after a Herald Sun article on April 30 revealed her crime, and that Burton had been unable to find work since.
Judge Gamble said that extra-curial punishment had led him to adjust her sentence.
Burton was sentenced with conviction.
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