A jilted lover has become the first transgender person in Britain to be convicted of “revenge porn”, after posting intimate images of his ex on Facebook.
Jesse Hawthorne, 23, posted the explicit photos of his ex-girlfriend after she broke-up with him when he had a sex change.
Hawthorne, who was born Jessica, was in a lesbian relationship with his victim for two-and-a-half-years before deciding to undergo a sex change.
But after they split Hawthorne uploaded the “extremely intimate” images of his former lover onto Facebook.
Hawthorne, of Trecenydd, was handed a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, at Newport Magistrates’ Court on October 7. He had admitted disclosing private sexual photographs with intent to cause distress at a previous hearing. He was also given a 25-day rehabilitation requirement and must do 150 hours of unpaid work.
District Judge Smith-Jones said: “This was a very serious matter. It was more than just payback, it was revenge. “You carried this out without regard to the thoughts and the feelings of the victim.”
The court was told that Hawthorne fell out with his ex-girlfriend when she did not want him to have a sex change.
The former college student, who has a lipstick kiss style tattoo on his neck, went to her home in June this year to get back a puppy he had bought for her.
Newport Magistrates’ Court heard how his ex-lover’s new partner threw him against a wall and the next day Hawthorne uploaded two revenge porn photographs onto Facebook.
Prosecutor Jamie Dewar said: “He did it out of anger. The victim said she had sent the extremely intimate images to Jesse while they were in a relationship together.
“She felt distressed, alarmed, humiliated, and embarrassed by what she and all her Facebook friends saw.”
Defence Barrister Rod Smith told the court: “She didn’t wish Jesse to have gender reassignment so the relationship ended.
“Things got quite nasty between the parties.”
The offence of revenge porn became illegal earlier this year – with a maximum of two years jail.
Siobhan Blake, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service Wales, said: “I hope that this case serves as a further reminder that this type of vindictive behaviour is against the law and will not be tolerated.
“The distress caused by offences of this nature is considerable. Those who engage in this type of activity should be in no doubt that they can expect to find themselves in court.”
An invasion of privacy is an invasion of privacy.
100% correct.