A 28-year-old has been convicted of offences against his ex-partner, whom he stalked for months. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Even though a man had started seeing another woman, he still became furious that his ex-partner had begun a relationship with someone else. That’s when he launched a revenge porn attack aimed at humiliating her.
The 28-year-old, who legally can’t be named, pleaded guilty to charges of stalking and non-consensual distribution of intimate images before appearing in the ACT Magistrates Court for sentencing earlier this week.
After his relationship with his victim ended, he stalked her for 10 months across 2022 and 2023.
He continued to message her (she kept asking him to stop and blocked him on social media), arranged for flowers to be delivered to her home (she turned them away), posted photos of her on his social media accounts (she asked him to take them down) and messaged her friends.
“I’ve made it clear I don’t want to be with you any more and you continue to prove we can’t even be on civil terms,” she told him.
Then in February 2023, the man sent a friend request to the victim’s new partner on social media and messaged his victim, making comments like, “I’m going to wreck your life like you did mine” and “It’s war”.
“I’m the master of the mind, there’s nothing you can do,” he told her.
He also specifically referenced her grandmother, who had recently died.
The man commented on a social media post by her new partner, making what Magistrate Jane Campbell said was a degrading, possibly sexual comment.
Also, he sent four photos and one video that had been taken of his victim’s body to her new partner as well as one of her friends. These were intimate images taken during the victim’s relationship with the man.
The man messaged the new partner as well, insulting him and telling them he and the victim had still been sleeping together, which was a lie.
Magistrate Campbell said the fact the man had officially started a new relationship with a different woman – whom he had been courting since the start of the year – several days after this incident demonstrated “his quite controlling, obsessive behaviour”.
She said the man’s stalking could be called harassing until February 2023 when there had been a clear escalation.
She also said he sent intimate images to the victim’s new partner to humiliate and embarrass her.
He intended to harm his victim and committed his actions in anger after finding out about her new relationship, Magistrate Campbell said, saying he had been unable to accept their relationship was over.
The man was supported in the courtroom by family members and his new partner, who spoke about the changes he had made in his life and the remorse he had shown.
Magistrate Campbell said a suspended sentence was warranted due to his strong protective factors, such as the support and love of his family, his new partner, and his employment.
He was convicted and sentenced to nine months’ jail, fully suspended for an 18-month good behaviour order with a condition that he attend education programs on anger management and emotional regulation.
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