A Canberra man who set up an Instagram account to publish nude photos of a young woman sobbed as a judge sentenced him on Friday to nine months behind bars.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Oliver James Simonetti, 20, faced a sentencing hearing in the ACT Supreme Court after he earlier pleaded guilty to a series of child pornography crimes committed in 2016.
Simonetti messaged three girls, one of whom was 14, photos of themselves scantily dressed. He demanded nude photographs and threatened to share the photo if they did not comply.
None of the victims complied, the court heard, but in one instance Simonetti created an Instagram account in one victim's name and the word nudes, the court heard.
He used the account to carry out his threats, posting photos of the woman and inviting others to follow the account.
On Friday, Simonetti pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to transmit, solicit and distribute child pornography, as well as using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence and intentionally possessing child exploitation material.
In one instance, the court heard, the man sent the same young woman a photograph in which her breasts were exposed.
When she asked how he got the photo he replied: "Revenge porn sites are great. Your life ends now you have until my shitty internet loads to stop me."
He sent another woman, who was then 17, of a photo taken when she was 12, in which she was scantily dressed.
The photo came with a threat that said the woman had five minutes to send back a full body nude photo.
A girl aged 14 also received a message from Simonetti with a photograph of her wearing only a bra, taken a year earlier.
Once again, Simonetti demanded nude photos to prevent the photograph being disseminated.
He took part in an online chat group that involved the exchange of child pornography. The photographs included images of pre-pubescent girls and some in explicit poses.
Police also found about 700 photographs of 154 different children on Simonetti's computers, phone and hard drive.
Justice Michael Elkaim said the man had no criminal record, had been described as "decent and intelligent", wanted to apologise to the victims and expressed remorse.
But he said the offences were too serious for the man to not serve time behind bars.
Justice Elkaim said the abuse of children is not limited to the time when the abuse happens or the photograph is taken.
"It is perpetuated each time an image is shared or seen by another person. It is capable of following a victim for may years into the future.
"This is graphically illustrated in this case, where an apparently private photograph was distributed some three years after it was taken."
He sentenced Simonetti, who sobbed for the half-an-hour it took the judge to deliver his sentence, to two-and-a-half years imprisonment, with nine months to be served full time and the rest suspended on $1000 security to be of good behaviour.
He will be released in November.