A WOMAN, 50, who sent a picture of her one-time lover's penis to his partner in an act of "revenge porn" has failed in her bid to avoid a conviction, with a judge labelling her behaviour "malicious" and "entirely unnecessary".
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The woman pleaded guilty in Wyong Local Court in August to intentionally distributing an intimate image without consent and intimidation after the breakdown of a brief fling with the victim in June this year.
She was ordered to serve an 18-month community corrections order and fined $500, but appealed against the severity of those sentences in Gosford District Court on Wednesday.
The woman and the victim had known each other for years but after a chance encounter in May this year they began texting which developed into the exchange of sexually explicit images.
The relationship continued and the pair were intimate, but things began to sour when the woman became aware the victim was in a relationship with another woman. The woman claims she ended the relationship because the victim had promised they were exclusive. The victim had earlier sent three or four pictures of his penis to the woman and then on June 20, after the victim had gone around to the woman's house to discuss their deteriorating relationship, the woman sent one of the images to his partner.
"Sorry just need you to see this wasn't just one f---," the woman wrote. She then sent a screenshot of the same image, accompanied by a text saying: "So you can see the date stamp."
However, as the victim's partner had previously blocked the woman, she did not see the messages.
A few days later the woman called police about the victim coming to her house and officers reviewed the messages in her phone from the night she sent the explicit message.
There was also a text between the woman and the victim that said: "I sent your d--- pics with date stamps to her too. Laugh at that I will expose you for the fraud you are I hope she is sensible to not take you back and ever come within sight of me or near my home and the police will be on to you so quick your head will spin. I hope Parkinson's takes hold and you die a slow painful death."
The woman admitted to sending the messages and said she was motivated to prove to the victim's partner that she was not just a "one-night stand".
The woman appealed against the severity of the sentence on Wednesday, her lawyers arguing she had been held accountable and was no risk of re-offending.
Judge Alister Abadee granted the appeal but ultimately found the offence was "malicious, unnecessary" and too serious to avoid a conviction, sentencing the woman to an 18-month conditional release order.
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