A young woman was devastated to discover from her ex that a video of her involved in a threesome with two rugby players had been shared on social media, a court has heard.
Trent Gerard Pickering, 31, a former Taranaki Development rugby player in New Zealand, and his co-offender, a representative player who has interim name suppression, faced sentencing in New Plymouth District Court this week.
The incident occurred on August 5 last year in a home in New Plymouth, a city on New Zealand‘s North Island after a night of drinking.
Pickering, his co-offender, the victim in her 20s who can’t be named and a friend of hers engaged in sexual activity together, according to the Crown summary of facts states that
Afterwards, the victim went into the bathroom to shower and was followed by Pickering and the co-offender, the New Zealand Herald reported.
The three had consensual sexual activity in the shower and Pickering started filming the encounter on his mate’s phone.
The video shows the co-offender grinning at the camera before waving a ‘hang-loose’ sign and high-fiving Pickering.
The victim could not 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 his co-offender
The next day, Pickering messaged the co-offender and requested the video before posting it to a Snapchat group which included premier rugby players in the region.
Pickering messaged the victim: ‘I’ve got another mate way better than last night and we can run a train on you.’
The court was told that term meant when multiple men had sex with a woman, one after the other.
The video was a talking point at a rugby party that night attended by many members of the Taranaki rugby community.
Pickering’s co-offender was present at the party and the summary states the video was being widely talked about, shown and shared, the court heard.
The threesome between the woman, Pickering and his co-offender was recorded without her knowledge and uploaded to a Snapchat group including premier rugby players (stock image)
It’s known how many people have seen the video.
Two days after the incident, the victim became aware of the video through her ex-boyfriend, who was told about it by a mate in Perth who had seen it.
She messaged Pickering and the co-offender, who both denied the footage existed.
In subsequent messages shared between the men, they encouraged each other to continue to deny the video existed and to delete screenshots and videos from their phones.
After the victim warned the men to come clean, the co-offender contacted Pickering.
‘Hahaha dumb b***h, Pickering responded.
‘Nobody has it g. Not even us we are allgood (sic).’
A few days later, Pickering sent a message to his co-offender.
‘Yo g. We aren’t getting caught we allgood (sic). F*** that hoe,’ he texted.
The co-offender replied with ‘Yo’ and an emoji of a laughing face.
At this stage the victim had the video and shared it with police.
The two men were later arrested and charged.
Pickering and his co-offender faced sentencing at New Plymouth District Court this week
Both pleaded guilty to the charges of making an intimate visual recording and publishing an intimate visual recording.
At the pair’s sentencing, the woman revealed in a harrowing victim impact statement how she felt violated, angry, betrayed and embarrassed.
She was so traumatised by the ordeal that she fled to Australia to start a new life.
‘My reputation there is tarnished,’ she wrote.
Pickering was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment that was converted to eight months of home detention, and ordered to pay $1,500 in emotional harm reparation.
His co-offender was convicted and sentenced to 12 months of supervision and ordered to pay $1,500 reparation.
‘There needs to be a clear message sent out that this sort of behaviour is entirely unacceptable.’ Judge Gregory Hikaka said.
‘The concern that I have, is that the deterrent message would be lost if the discharge without conviction was granted.’
