A young woman was devastated to discover her ex had told her a video of her engaging in a threesome with two rugby players had been shared on social media, a court heard.
Trent Gerard Pickering, 31, a former Taranaki Development rugby player in New Zealand, and his co-offender, a representative player who has provisional name suppression, faced sentencing in the New Plymouth District Court this week.
The incident occurred on August 5 last year at a house in New Plymouth, a city on New Zealand’s North Island, after a night of drinking.
Pickering, his co-attacker, the victim in her 20s whose name cannot be released, and a friend of hers engaged in sexual activity together, According to the Crown’s summary of facts, it is established that
The victim then went to the bathroom to shower and was followed by Pickering and her co-attacker. The New Zealand Herald reported.
The three engaged in consensual sexual activity in the shower and Pickering began filming the encounter on his partner’s phone.
The video shows the co-offender smiling at the camera before waving a sign reading “relax” and high-fiving Pickering.
The victim was unable to see this and did not consent to being filmed, the court heard.
Trent Gerard Pickering, 31, was convicted of filming and sharing a video of a threesome with the victim and her co-attacker.
The next day, Pickering messaged the co-offender and asked for the video before posting it to a Snapchat group that included the region’s top rugby players.
Pickering texted the victim: “I have another friend who is much better than the one from last night and we can throw a train at you.”
The court was told the term referred to when several men had sex with a woman, one after another.
The video was the talk of a rugby party that night attended by many members of the Taranaki rugby community.
Pickering’s co-author was present at the party and the summary claims the video was being widely discussed, shown and shared, the court heard.
The threesome between the woman, Pickering and his accomplice was recorded without their knowledge and uploaded to a Snapchat group that included top-level rugby players (file image)
It is known how many people have seen the video.
Two days after the incident, the victim found out about the video through her ex-boyfriend, who was told by a friend in Perth that she had seen it.
She messaged Pickering and the co-offender, who denied the existence of the images.
In subsequent messages shared between the men, they encouraged each other to continue denying the existence of the video and to delete screenshots and videos from their phones.
After the victim warned the men to confess to what happened, the co-attacker contacted Pickering.
“Hahaha, dumb bitch,” Pickering replied.
“Nobody has it. Not even we are all okay.”
A few days later, Pickering sent a message to his co-offender.
“Hey, we’re not going to get caught, we’re fine. Fuck that bitch,” he wrote.
The co-offender responded with a “Yo” and a laughing face emoji.
At that time the victim had the video and shared it with the police.
The two men were later arrested and charged.
Pickering and his co-offender faced sentencing in New Plymouth District Court this week.
Both pleaded guilty to charges of making an intimate visual recording and publishing an intimate visual recording.
During the couple’s sentencing, the woman revealed in a heartbreaking victim impact statement how she felt violated, angry, betrayed and ashamed.
She was so traumatized by the experience that she fled to Australia to start a new life.
“My reputation there is tarnished,” he wrote.
Pickering was sentenced to 15 months in prison converted to eight months of house arrest and ordered to pay $1,500 in emotional distress reparation.
His co-offender was found guilty and sentenced to 12 months of supervision and ordered to pay $1,500 reparations.
“A clear message needs to be sent that this type of behaviour is totally unacceptable,” said Judge Gregory Hikaka.
‘My concern is that the deterrent message would be lost if discharge without conviction were granted.’