Man spared jail after threatening to advertise his ex as a prostitute

MAN SPARED JAIL AFTER THREATENING TO ADVERTISE HIS EX AS A PROSTITUTE

A 30-year-old man that threatened to share sexually explicit images of his ex-girlfriend and falsely advertise her as a prostitute if she didn’t pay him £500 has been spared jail.

Dean Townsend, of Giasgill Court in Widnes, has been sentenced at Warrington Magistrates’ Court after he pleaded guilty to threatening to disclose sexual images.

On December 16 last year, the 30-year-old messaged an ex-partner while in Warrington and threatened to advertise her as a prostitute online if she did not pay him £500.

Prosecution for the case, Miss McCoubrey told the court that the victim was told that sexually explicit images of her would be shared on a website called Vivastreet, an advertising website used to buy and sell services.

The victim was also sent pictures of her vagina by Townsend as part of the threat.

Townsend, who was on licence at the time after serving 10 months in prison for a fraudulent offence in 2022, was interviewed by police and gave ‘no reasonable explanation for his behaviour’.

Defending, Mr Farnan noted that there had been a breakdown in the relationship between Townsend and his ex-girlfriend prior to the messages being sent.

Mr Farnan also told the court that Townsend was seeking ‘money that he said she owed him’ but had ‘no intention’ of sharing the images.

Townsend was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment suspended for 18 months, due to the fact that there is ‘a realistic expectation of rehabilitation’.

The 30-year-old must also attend the Building Better Relationships programme for a maximum of 30 days, which is a programme for adult men convicted of an intimate partner violence offence.

A restraining order was also granted, prohibiting Townsend from approaching or contacting the victim for two years.