Wellington man used woman's nudes for blackmail, threatened to have her baby removed

Byron Cooper, 22, was given community work for blackmail offending that "broke" his victim. Photo / Supplied

A man who threatened to have a young mother's newborn baby taken off her by blackmailing her with her own naked photos has been sentenced.

Byron Cooper, 22, appeared in the Wellington District Court today for sentencing on one charge of blackmail, which the judge called "highly personal and demeaning".

About a year ago, the victim sent Cooper naked photos of herself.

In February this year, Cooper contacted the victim on Facebook and asked if she would have sex with him, but she told him she was not interested and that she had a child now.

He then sent her the naked photo and asked her if she wanted him to delete it, saying she could give him money or sex, and that she should "hurry up and choose".

He then told her if she didn't send the money he would send the pictures to Oranga Tamariki, along with a report of concern.

"After [the victim] transferred $50 into [his] bank account, he told her it would be a further $50 for the reports of concern to go away," the summary said.

She sent him the extra money, to which he replied he had two different reports, "one to have baby taken now and one that would be investigated".

The victim became "incredibly distressed" and tried to call Cooper, who did not answer the phone, but messaged her saying, "if you keep going it's 100 for it to be deleted".

She then transferred $100 into his account and he told her "it's deleted", but he continued to ask for sex, and told her she would need to give him $50 a week for a month, and that he could have sex with her whenever he liked.

The victim ended up agreeing to have sex with him four times and to pay him $50 a week for a month.

"When she explained to [him] that she would need some warning beforehand, [he] sent her the contact email address for Oranga Tamariki," the summary said.

He continued to increase the price and number of times she would have to have sex with him.

She blocked him and reported him to police.

The arrangements for sex and payments over the month never took place as the offending only took place across one day.

In explanation, he admitted sending the messages and said he wanted the victim to repay him for the night they spent in a hotel room, and that he only continued the conversation because he wanted the victim to block him.

In court today, Judge Andrew Nicholls said the woman struggled with embarrassment and shame after the blackmail.

In her victim impact statement - given when her baby was just three months old - she said the offending "broke her".

"Nothing can change how much he hurt me. I was vulnerable and he took advantage of that," she said.

Defence lawyer Lynda Stevens said Cooper had been remorseful from the start and was "eager" to plead guilty.

Judge Nicholls said Cooper's offending was deliberate, and involved manipulative demands online. He has a previous conviction for indecent communication with a child.

In sentencing, he gave discounts for Cooper's guilty plea and his youth.

He chose not to impose a sentence of home or community detention, factoring in that Cooper's offending was mainly online and detention at home would be more of a punishment for his family than himself.

He sentenced him to 100 hours of community work, and ordered him to pay $200 reparation and a further $200 emotional harm reparation.