Sick Ex’s Photo Revenge
Cherryl’s sick ex posted pictures online in a bitter act of revenge
Charming, kind, funny – Timothy Mccarthy, then 33, was everything I was looking for. We met through friends in September 2015.
I was eight years older, single, with three grown-up kids, aged 26, 24 and 21.
What would he see in an old mum like me? I thought.
But Timothy was interested.
‘You’re gorgeous,’ he said to me.
Persistent, he asked to take me out for a drink. And I didn’t take much convincing. ‘You’ve twisted my arm,’ I said. A lovely first date turned into a second, then a third… And before I knew it, me and Timothy were a proper couple.
He was always at my place, and he just never left.
Things moved quickly, but it felt right. Timothy and I just clicked.
Despite the slight age gap, he seemed mature for his age and had a strong head on his shoulders.
And I liked it that Timothy was so protective of me, always phoning to check where I was.
But, as time went on, his possessiveness began to wear thin. He’d even pester me when I was at work as a taxi operator.
‘What time will you be home?’ he’d ask, phoning me just 10 minutes into my shift. It was exhausting. Timothy hated me seeing my friends, too.
‘I just want you all to myself,’ he’d say.
I felt suffocated, though. So, last July, I ended it.
‘I need some space,’ I explained.
Timothy was absolutely livid.
‘You won’t find anyone better than me!’ he yelled.
Bombarded
After a heated row, he packed and left – but, over the next few weeks, Timothy bombarded me with texts and calls.
He even phoned the taxi office when I was at work. During one shift, he called over 300 times.
‘Can I have a taxi, you dirty s**g,’ he’d snarl.
He called every six minutes, making it difficult for customers to get through.
I felt terrible that drivers were losing business.
I prayed Timothy would give up soon – but no such luck.
I tried blocking his number, but he just called me from different phones.
‘I’m in your house, smashing it up,’ he laughed when I was visiting my parents one day.
I rushed home, but the place was fine and Timothy was nowhere to be seen.
He was just playing twisted games with me.
In the end, I contacted the police and a restraining order was imposed, but Timothy
During one work shift, he called over 300 times
broke it straightaway.
He carried on bombarding me with abusive, vile calls.
Last October, he appeared at Beverley Magistrates Court and was sentenced to 20 weeks for harassment.
But, even after his release, it didn’t take long for the abusive calls to start again.
Then, earlier this year, a friend phoned… ‘There’s something on Facebook you need to see,’ she said.
She e-mailed me a link and
I clicked on it. And what filled the screen made me want to throw up…
It was a fake profile for me. There was a photo of me pulling a silly ‘shocked’ expression, my mouth open.
And written across the image were the words, Free bl*w j*bs here!
The blood drained from my face.
Loads of my friends had been added to the page. That meant they’d all seen it.
And I knew exactly who was behind it. It was just the sort of evil and vicious thing Timothy would do.
Frantic, I tried to contact Facebook to get them to remove the profile. But there was no number to call, all I could do was e-mail and wait for a reply.
Meanwhile, Timothy phoned.
‘Everyone is loving your new page!’ he taunted, hanging up.
Hours on, the page was still active. Friends called me, told me they’d seen it – I was hysterical.
Then I got a reply from Facebook, saying that the image wasn’t offensive, so wouldn’t be removed.
‘Not offensive?’ I sobbed, distraught. ‘It’s disgusting.’
Shortly after, other pictures were added to the page. And they just got worse and worse.
I sleep naked, and most of the pictures were of me asleep, my bare bum on display.
‘Timothy must’ve taken them without me knowing,’ I sobbed to my daughter, mortified.
Agonising
I was shaking as I contacted Facebook again, begged them to shut down the page.
I couldn’t stop crying, and stayed up all night, monitoring the page. Next morning, it was still active.
I felt so exposed – who knew how many people had seen it?
Finally, after I’d been through an agonising 24 hours, the page was shut down – but the damage had already been done. I was an emotional mess. I’d reported the page to the police by now. But, even when Timothy was arrested, I didn’t feel relieved.
The images had been viewed by hundreds. Nothing would undo my humiliation.
In April, Timothy Mccarthy, 36, appeared at Hull Crown Court.
He admitted breaching his restraining order and two offences of disclosing private sexual photos with intent to cause distress.
He was jailed for three years and a five-year restraining order was imposed.
That’s nothing for the distress that he’s caused me.
I’m on antidepressants now, and I’ve had to give up my job because I’m too scared to leave the house.
I’m completely paranoid that strangers will have seen those pictures of me, and I just can’t bear to face people.
I hope by sharing my story, it urges social-networking sites to review their procedures on removing offensive pictures.
If it spares another woman the humiliation and distress I’ve experienced, it’ll be worth it.
FAKE PROFILE shattered my WHOLE LIFE There were pics of me asleep, my bare bum on display