A Kiama Downs man jailed for threatening to publish intimate videos of a woman he met on Tinder has lodged an appeal against his sentence.
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Convicted sex offender Andrew Peter Swallow, 30, was handed an 18 month prison term in Wollongong Local Court last month after pleading guilty to stalking.
The court heard he and the woman connected via Tinder last December and were “intimate” when they met in person in February, with Swallow filming a consensual sex act between the pair.
She demanded he delete the video, which he did.
However, a few days later the woman rejected Swallow’s request for a dinner date, prompting him to threaten to “forward the boys your vids (sic)”.
The woman told police she believed Swallow had stored the video on his phone before erasing it. He contacted her again in March and July, each time threatening to release the video.
“You caused me unnecessary stress and drama, I told you karma would suck,” he told the woman.
In imposing the jail term, Magistrate Peter Budgen admonished Swallow’s actions and sympathised with the victim, who he said must have been “terrified” by Swallow’s threats.
Magistrate Budgen ordered that Swallow be released from prison after serving a minimum term of 13 months, however the Mercury can reveal Swallow has appealed the decision on account of it being “too severe”.
While the appeal will not be heard until early next year, Swallow told Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday he wanted to speak to a solicitor about applying for bail in time for Christmas.
Magistrate Michael Stoddart adjourned the matter to next Tuesday for him to instruct Legal Aid.
