Mildura man Zach Lemon used iPhone apps to stalk woman, threatening to frame her for self-harm

A Mildura man tracked a woman through apps, threatened to harm himself, and relentlessly contacted her, a court has heard.

Zach Lemon pleaded guilty to stalking charges after tracking his victim using iPhone apps. Picture: iStock/Generic.

A Mildura man stalked a woman by using her iPhone’s location services and other apps to track her movements, a court has heard.

Zach Lemon, 22, fronted Mildura Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to charges including stalking.

The court heard Lemon was caught on a recording, telling his victim he would stab himself and frame her for it.

Lemon was supported in the court by his sister.

On another occasion Lemon followed his victim as she drove with a friend to McDonald’s in Irymple.

Police said he parked his car as she went through the drive thru and followed her to her parents’ house once they left.

He contacted the victim via voice call on Instagram and video call on FaceTime the following day.

During this FaceTime, Lemon shared his screen with his victim, and that is when she saw screenshots of her location from various apps she claimed he was using to keep track of where she was.

Lemon was sentenced to a 12 month CCO and was warned if he doesn’t obey the conditions of the order, he was facing up to six months behind bars.

Lemon’s victim blocked and altered her location settings following the voice call but that didn’t stop Lemon from trying to add his victim on Snapchat with multiple different profiles.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Kristen Simm emphasised the seriousness of the offence and called for a prison sentence.

“Stalking behaviours … are inherently serious. (It) is an extremely gendered phenomenon, overwhelmingly perpetrated by males, and predominantly experienced by females.”

“The higher courts have made plain that general deterrence, public denunciation, just punishment and community protection must be prominent sentencing factors,” Sen Constable Simm said.

Mr Coghlan sentenced Lemon to a 12 month community corrections order which included 120 hours of unpaid community service.

He also gave Lemon a stark warning as he handed down his sentence.

“If you don’t turn up as directed and do the work as directed, don’t think you can come here and ask to convert the hours into a fine. If you breach the order … you will be writing your own sentence of four to six months in jail,” Mr Coghlan said.