A MAN from Kidderminster is the first in the region to be convicted of "revenge pornography" after he disclosed a sexually explicit picture of a woman on Facebook.

Alex Till, aged 25, has today (Thursday) been given a 12 month community order with a requirement to attend a 30 day rehabilitation programme.

Till, who was the first person in the West Midlands to be convicted of revenge pornography, was sentenced at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to disclosing on Facebook a private photograph of the victim which was of a sexually explicit nature without her consent.

In June the defendant sent the victim a Facebook message from a false account using the private sexual photograph of the victim as his profile picture.

This caused the victim enormous distress said the Crown Prosecution Service.

The matter was reported to the police who subsequently arrested the defendant and charged him with an offence contrary to Section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.

Till was also fined £73, ordered to pay costs of 85 and a victim surcharge of £60.

Lionel Idan, deputy chief crown prosecutor from West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “Alex Till sought revenge against the victim by posting a sexually explicit photograph onto a social media website without the victim’s permission.

“This deliberate and callous act was intended to cause the victim maximum distress, humiliation and embarrassment.

"Such criminal actions will not be tolerated by the CPS and the police and we will do everything in our power to obtain justice for victims of this crime by robustly prosecuting all those who engage in such malicious activity.

“The CPS has introduced new guidelines for its prosecutors on revenge porn and I urge anyone who has been a victim of such a crime to report it to the police and to help us bring such offenders to justice.”

In April 2015, the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 created a new criminal offence of Revenge Pornography, making it a criminal offence to disclose private sexual photographs and films without the consent of an individual who appears in them and with the intent to cause that individual distress.

A typical case of revenge pornography would involve an ex-partner uploading an intimate image of the victim to the internet or sending it to their friends and family.

It is carried out with the intention of causing distress, humiliation and embarrassment to the victim.

Previously, these cases have been prosecuted under other areas of legislation, such as the Communications Act 2003, Malicious Communications Act 1988 or the Harassment Act 1997. Under the new legislation someone convicted of an offence could face up to two years in prison and receive a fine.

Revenge Porn is the sharing of private, sexual materials, either photos or videos, of another person without their consent and with the purpose of causing embarrassment or distress. The images are sometimes accompanied by personal information about the subject, including their full name, address and links to their social media profiles.