Chesterfield man published explicit photo of his ex-wife after visit to her home to see their children

Timothy Johnson, 32, of Clowne Road, Shuttleworth admitted harassment and disclosing private sexual photographs with intent to cause distress when he appeared before Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, July 22.

Prosecuting, Becky Allsop told the court: “The complainant was in a relationship with the defendant for eight years and they separated in February of last year. She hails from the South Shields area and when the relationship ended he moved back to Derbyshire. In January, it was arranged that he could go back to the address and see the children.

Following the visit he started sending her abusive messages and said that he had photos of her and he would share them on Facebook. There were 15 people who saw them on that site and some of them were strangers.

“The photo showed her naked in her top half and she was holding his penis in her hand.”

Mitigating. Kirsty Sargent said that Johnson was now a full-time carer for his father.

District Judge Jonathan Taaffe adjourned the case until August 13 to allow the Probation Service to complete pre-sentence reports before he is sentenced.

He said: “This is a serious matter. The sharing of the photograph was clearly designed to degrade the complainant.”

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