Man jailed for posting sexual photographs of woman online
A MAN uploaded sexual photographs and a video of a woman on the Pornhub website after she blocked him on social media, leaving her distressed and humiliated.
Krishan Church created an email address and Pornhub account in the victim’s name before uploading the images and 260 site users subscribed to the channel.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, found out when a friend sent her the link and she said: “I sank to the floor in tears.”
Speaking at Cardiff Crown Court, prosecutor Steven Donoghue said the defendant started harassing the victim in September last year.
The court heard he sent her repeated WhatsApp messages and text messages despite her making it “absolutely clear” she did not want to hear from him.
Mr Donoghue said Church even tried to contact the victim through a payment app after she blocked him on other platforms.
He told the court the defendant’s messages became “darker” in tone and he threatened to share the intimate images if she did not unblock him.
Mr Donoghue added: “The complainant was obviously extremely concerned and very upset and worried.”
Two months later a friend told her he had seen a video of her on Pornhub and sent her the link. The prosecutor said: “The defendant uploaded the images to the largest porn site in the world.”
Church created email and Pornhub accounts in the victim’s name and uploaded two photographs of her in underwear as well as a sexual video. The material was viewed by 260 users.
Mr Donoghue said: “When the complainant realised and saw herself on a public platform in these circumstances she was appalled.”
The woman contacted the police and Church was arrested. In the first interview he accepted harassing the victim but did not admit uploading the images.
In his second interview he accepted putting the material on Pornhub and said he was sorry.
The victim said in a statement the thought of Pornhub users across the world being able to see her left her feeling vulnerable and angry.
She said: “I have never been that angry before. To think of men watching me makes me feel physically sick.”
The court heard she was “mortified” when her friend told her about the images. She added: “I felt so helpless. There was nothing I could do. I could not take my pictures down.”
She said she had suicidal thoughts, adding: “I could not see another way out.” She still feels nervous and anxious.
Prosecutors said Church had no previous convictions but two cautions – one for fraud in relation to “bogus” gig tickets.
Mr Donoghue argued the offending involved a significant degree of planning and caused “very serious distress” to the victim.
Church, 30, from Gloster’s Parade in New Inn, Pontypool, admitted harassment and disclosing a private sexual film and photographs without consent and with intent to cause distress.
Matthew Paul, defending, said: “He was in a very dark place personally when he committed these offences.”
The court heard Church built up a £30,000 debt during an 11-year gambling addiction and was in a “mentally fragile condition”.
Mr Paul said his client was taking prescribed anti-depressants at the time and it was like he was “living in a dream world”. He accepted the offending was “disgusting”.
The defendant has now blocked himself from gambling sites for five years and is paying off his debt with help from his mother.
Mr Paul said Church has a degree and works in science. He continued working throughout and hopes to be debt-free by next year.
He added: “He would like to say sorry profoundly. He is unable to believe how he behaved towards her.”
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Richard Williams said: “What you did was shameful, spiteful, and calculated – intended to maximise humiliation and distress to her.
“This is a case where the harm intended and caused is such that appropriate punishment can only be achieved by an immediate custodial sentence. You are going to prison today.”
Church was jailed for seven months and the judge made a fiveyear restraining order.