A Tinder user who threatened to expose his victim's naked photos to her Facebook friends has failed to have his case dealt with behind closed doors.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ashleigh David Hemming told the Wodonga Magistrates Court this week he was struggling after earlier pleading guilty to a count of threatening to distribute an intimate image of a person.
"It's just so hard with the publicity and the stigma of the offending," he said.
"It's just so hard to better me life because of this."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Magistrate Ian Watkins, who refused to close the court for the matter, told Hemming he had to take responsibility for his actions.
Hemming had matched with the woman and they started messaging each other from April 18 last year.
He was living in Wodonga with his mother at the time and they began to share intimate images.
He took things a step further and asked to see a video of her, before making threats to send the earlier images to her Facebook friends.
"I won't send them to anyone if you are nice to me," he warned.
Hemming told her not to go to the police and claimed to be joking, but the 21-year-old woman did report the matter.
The court heard Hemming was on drugs at the time.
"Whilst that might be an explanation, it is not an excuse," Mr Watkins said.
He said the offending "beggars belief" given Hemming had served time in jail for similar matters.
Mr Watkins ordered Hemming complete 120 hours of community work.
He will return to the court on November 11 for monitoring.
