DUMBARTON WOMAN SPEAKS OUT AFTER SEAN MONAGHAN POSTED UNAUTHORIZED IMAGES AND COMMENTS ON US PORN SITE

A young woman from Dumbarton has shared her deep distress after her former friend, Sean Monaghan, uploaded photographs of her and ten other women, accompanied by disgusting comments, onto a US-based adult website. The woman was appalled to find that Monaghan, 24, a former shop worker living on Glasgow Road in Dumbarton East, was behind this disturbing act, which resulted in innocent images of women from the area being viewed thousands of times on the X-rated site.

Several of the affected women attended Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week to witness justice being served. Monaghan was placed on the sex offenders register for two years and received a community payback order involving 200 hours of unpaid work.

Expressing relief at the case's conclusion, the woman said: "We are really pleased with the sentence and the fact he's been put on the sex offenders register. The sheriff [Maxwell Hendry] was fantastic."

She also explained that the sheriff emphasized that her images themselves were not the core issue but rather the threatening comments Monaghan made alongside the photos. "They were just normal prom and selfie photos," she said.

Monaghan’s lawyer acknowledged their feelings, but the woman reflected: "He knew how we felt, but he has no idea. We are glad it’s over, but it’s been such a long, distressing and embarrassing process. It was awful telling our families. We just want people to know what he's done."

The woman described Monaghan as a seemingly normal guy and expressed her shock at his actions. "He was a best friend, and I find it really difficult to trust people now. I’m cautious about what I put on Facebook," she stated.

Monaghan admitted to posting the images on adult websites without the women's consent, as well as comments that were sexually violent, threatening, offensive, and derogatory. He also confessed to uploading images of his genitalia alongside the women’s pictures and breaching the peace. These offences occurred over a year, from November 1, 2014, to November 1, 2015, from his home on Inchconnachan Avenue.

All of the women, aged between 20 and 25, knew Monaghan and had taken their holiday and prom photos from Facebook before he uploaded them to the adult site. Some of the women had worked with him at a shop in Dumbarton.

The Lennox Herald previously reported that the women discovered their images after being alerted by a college friend during Halloween. Initially told by police that no crime had been committed, they decided to investigate themselves by creating fake profiles on the site. It was through this that they uncovered the disturbing comments and identified Monaghan as the culprit.

One woman recounted: "There were videos of him touching himself to our pictures, and we recognized his voice, his laptop, and even his hands. When we confronted him, he claimed he didn’t know about it. Later, he messaged us, admitting it and apologizing, saying he didn’t mean it."

She added, "Once police re-engaged, they were fantastic and kept us updated throughout the case."

The woman shared how the experience continues to affect her. "It still feels raw. I didn’t want to be angry with him at first because he was my friend, but reading out the comments in court made me realize I shouldn’t feel sorry for him. Now, I just feel hatred."

She revealed that she often drives past his car and sees old photos of them on Facebook, which remind her of the betrayal. "The Sean I thought I knew isn’t the same person at all," she concluded.