Express & Star

No jail for revenge porn builder who put naked photos on swingers sites

Darren Rowe's victim had visits from random men who thought they had been chatting to her online after he posted photos.

Published
Last updated
Darren Rowe

A Black Country man prosecuted under revenge porn laws has avoided jail after posting photos of his partner on swingers sites.

Darren Rowe, 49 and from Rowley Regis, uploaded naked images to porn and swingers sites while the couple were still together.

His partner became aware of the images in June 2017 when a friend asked her about them.

She initially contacted police fearing they had been posted by a former friend after a falling out but then later found images and a video of her were also being posted on various messaging platforms.

And over the next few months she had unknown men turning up at her home saying they had had conversations with her online and had been invited over.

Rowe, a builder, initially denied any involvement but police traced an email address linked to the images to a property in Stourbridge where he had been working at the time.

When officers arrested him they found a number of mobile phones and electronic devices including data which connected him to the images of his then partner.

Rowe, of Powke Lane, admitted two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress at Wolverhampton Crown Court last week.

He was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years.

'Put me through hell'

After the court case, his victim said: "Darren put me through hell and affected my mental health, all whilst trying to convince me that he was here to help me.

"I believe he put me in danger for his own enjoyment and I would encourage any other woman going through something like this to report it.

"I loved this man unconditionally, and for the man you love to try and destroy you mentally is something that you don’t ever get over.

"You learn to live with it daily unfortunately, but time is a good healer. If anyone is going through this, I beg you to speak out, you are not alone.

"Tell a friend or a family member. I know it’s hard, but you can break free."

Rowe was also ordered to do 25 days rehabilitation and 100 hours of unpaid work and was given a restraining order for five years.

Pc Lee Newell, of West Midlands Police CID in West Bromwich, said: "This has been a long and complex case.

"But our investigations revealed that the only person linked to an email address used to transmit the material was in fact Rowe.

"His victim has suffered a distressing onslaught of online abuse. But following this conviction we now wish her well for the future."

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.