A Mildura man who secretly filmed an intimate act with a woman using a camera hidden in a wardrobe has been sentenced with a fine.
Mildura Magistrates Court heard Jarrod Aiello, 24, met a 40-year-old woman over Instagram in January, before the pair met to have sex.
The court heard Aiello had secretly set up a camera in a wardrobe to film the couple.
The woman told the court the sex tape had “completely turned her, and her family’s life, upside-down”.
“I’m here to stand up for myself today, and every other girl or woman that has been in this situation but has been too scared to speak up or hasn’t had the resources to get help,” she said.
“I can’t stop every man that has done this sort of thing, but I can stand here today and make sure that Jarrod doesn’t do this to any other female again.”
She told the court intimate images sent to Aiello on Snapchat had also been shared with multiple people.
Jarrod Aiello met the woman he filmed over Instagram. (Facebook: Jarrod Aiello)
Sex tape shared ‘like wildfire’
The court heard the woman became aware of the video weeks later, when her sister called her after finding out about it to see if her marriage was okay.
The victim told the court her marriage had since broken down, and the video had been shared “like wildfire” around Mildura and Robinvale, and in football group chats.
“That day my whole world fell to the floor,” she said.
“People I know, people I thought were friends, passed this video around like I was nothing, with not even a thought of how it would affect me and my family.”
Defence lawyer Bert Hilton-Wood told the court his client believed the filming was consensual.
Aiello pleaded guilty to one count of producing an intimate image, which carries a maximum sentence of three years’ jail time in Victoria.
The court heard a charge of distributing the video was dropped because Aiello said others shared it around after they accessed his phone.
Aiello was convicted and fined $5,000 in a Mildura court. (ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Tamara Clark)
Sex tape ‘nothing to worry about’
The victim told the court when she confronted Aiello about the video, he “gaslighted her” and said there was “nothing to worry about”.Â
Mr Hilton-Wood told the court there were four instances of him saying “sorry” before the crime was reported to police.
Magistrate Patrick Southey said it was “always hard to tell” if an accused was genuinely remorseful or upset they got caught.
Magistrate Southey noted Aillo had never been in trouble with the law before, and said had he not pleaded guilty, he would have sent him to jail “for the cruel breach of trust”.
Aiello was convicted and fined $5,000, and ordered to pay nearly $100 in court costs.