A mum who catfished a bisexual man on a men-only dating website and then threatened to share a video of him in a gay sauna has been spared jail.
Lucinda Pollitt, 30, publicly outed the man and sent his mother private sexual pictures he'd shared to her on dating website "FabGuys". Pollitt used a fake profile on the app to contact the man and receive the images.
A court heard she told the victim's mum "if you don't believe me, make a profile on FabGuys and click 'near me' when he's in the house". The man only realised he had been tricked when his mother showed him the messages, and he attempted to take his own life as a result of the anxiety the situation had caused.
One final text from Pollitt read: "You'll do well to remember what I have on you. I have kept my mouth shut to hide what and who you really are". The mum of three, from St Helens, Merseyside, called the man homophobic slurs and threatened to share videos of him in sexual situations, including one in a gay sauna.
But yesterday she pleaded guilty to two counts of disclosing or threatening to disclose private sexual images and one count of malicious communications. Judge Katherine Pierpoint suspended the mum's 12-month jail term for 12 months. Sitting at Liverpool Crown Court, she said: "This wasn't just a one off incident. This was behaviour which continued for a significant period of time. This was an offence which was motivated by hostility towards sexual orientation, and that's clear due to the language used.
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"The sharing of personal sexual images without consent intending to cause distress is a serious matter, as is threatening to do so. The sharing of these pictures with his mother was nasty, unnecessary and designed to cause distress and hurt, which you did. This offending had a serious effect on him. It affected his already unstable mental health and cause it to decline. He ended up making an attempt on his own life. He didn't feel ready, at the time, to come out as being bisexual and you have taken away his own right to come out in his own time. I hope you feel some element of shame for what you have done."
The judge continued: "Sending those messages and those pictures to (the victim's) mother was clearly designed to humiliate and cause distress. You continued your threats and in March 2023, some 12 months later, you exchanged messages where you threatened to send more videos of him in a gay sauna.
"Police examined your phone and what was seen was a variety of communications between August 2021 and March 2023 which were offensive in nature. You used homophobic terms. It was not appropriate... and you did that numerous times over a lengthy period of time."
The court heard Pollitt had intended to "cause distress" to both the victim and his mother. The experience had worsened the man's existing depression and anxiety, reports Liverpool Echo.
In a statement, the victim said: "At the time I was not ready to come out as bisexual as I didn't feel comfortable doing so. It was a struggle to come to terms with my sexuality. Due to what Pollitt has done, I never had the chance to come out in my own time on my own terms, which is something she has taken from me."
Kate Morley, defending, said: "The defendant is 30 years of age with a hitherto unblemished criminal record. She's devastated to be appearing in crown court for to first time in her life. She simply wasn't thinking in her normal, logical and sensible way, and that was exacerbated by having to look after three children."
She said: "Since her arrest there hasn't been any repeated behaviour, such has been her shame and embarrassment at being arrested, interviewed and put before a court."
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