GALWAY MAN JAILED FOR REVENGE PORN AFTER BREAKUP
A jilted boyfriend who posted intimate photos of his former partner to pornographic websites along with links to her social media accounts, has been sentenced to nine months in prison for what a judge described as an insidious and shocking way of getting back at her for ending their year-long relationship.Judge Mary Fahy described the victim as being viewed as a “piece of meat” on the websites, with degrading comments likely to be made about her.
The offender, Joseph O’Connor, an insurance salesman aged 27 from Lios an Uisce, Merlin Park, Galway, pleaded guilty before Galway District Court last April to harassing the woman on a date unknown between August 1st, 2015, and July 10th, 2019, contrary to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.
This case is the first prosecution of its type related to image-based abuse, commonly known as 'revenge porn,' to be brought before courts in Galway.
Reporting restrictions initially protected the victim’s identity but were later lifted by Judge Fahy.
Garda Paraic Moran, prosecuting, said the victim wished for O’Connor to be publicly identified, whereas she preferred to remain anonymous.
The woman was highly upset after discovering that intimate photographs she had sent to O’Connor during their relationship had been uploaded online shortly after their breakup.
She had searched her own name and found numerous 'friend' requests from strangers via Snapchat and Facebook.
Additionally, she found her photos on adult sites with links to her social media profiles.
Garda Moran explained that while the photographs did not reveal her identity directly, the social media links associated with the images did identify her.
O’Connor admitted to uploading these images when interviewed.
The court heard that O’Connor did this as a way of revenge after their breakup, which included rumors about him and the fact that she had also shared an intimate picture of him in a group chat, which she had sent as a joking gesture.
The relationship continued for some time after that incident but ended with O’Connor posting the photos online.
The victim had to contact numerous websites to have the images removed, sometimes falsely claiming she was underage, with some sites refusing to take them down.
Garda Moran emphasized the seriousness of the offense, leading to the judge imposing a custodial nine-month sentence to reflect its gravity and to serve as a deterrent.
