Five years after blackmailing a churchgoer over pornography found on his computer, Adam Burton targeted a teenage girl, threatening to expose her to tens of thousands of supposed followers unless she sent him explicit photos.
Burton, 30, began messaging the girl over Snapchat and received naked photos of her.
At one point, he messaged her saying: “I have got 92.5k readers. They’d love to see what I’m going to share.”
When the victim begged him not to, Burton responded: “Send what I ask for or you will he [sic] exposed. You have 5 minutes.”
“Can u not do this to me” “plse no”, she responded.
She then sent two images, one a screenshot of her Snapchat account and the second with her pants pulled down, exposing her underwear.
A pattern repeated
At a sentencing indication in July, it emerged that Burton, had a previous conviction for blackmail from 2020.
That arose after Burton saw pornography on a man’s computer which, while not illegal, was embarrassing to him as a churchgoer.
Burton then used the information to extract money from the victim until the victim grew tired of Burton’s continuing demands and complained to the police and disclosed the matter to his church.
Judge Noel Sainsbury noted the similarities in both cases.
Burton had taken something that was embarrassing, but not illegal, and used it to extract some advantage.
Earlier it was money; more recently, it was either salacious pictures of the complainant or simply the enjoyment of causing her distress, the judge said.
He didn’t mean to scare her - lawyer
It was that comment about causing distress and that he made the threat for pleasure that Burton’s lawyer, Clare Stanley, sought to explain at the recent sentencing in the Wellington District Court.
Stanley told the court a comment to police had been misconstrued and her client was adamant he wasn’t seeking pleasure from the victim’s distress.
Rather, he wanted the messaging to continue and didn’t mean to scare her, she said.
It was a point Judge Sainsbury addressed in his sentencing indication, describing the argument that Burton wanted to maintain a relationship with the victim, rather than cause her harm, as odd, given he could have achieved that in a benign way.
The judge also noted that Burton’s claim of having tens of thousands of followers or readers was simply bravado and was untrue.
At sentencing, Crown prosecutor Harshaa Prasad acknowledged Burton had undertaken counselling to address his alcohol addiction.
She had also read his reflection letter and acknowledged he was entitled to credit for his rehabilitation and remorse, albeit limited.
Prasad accepted a sentence of home detention was possible if there was information about how Burton planned to address the factors behind his offending.
The victim impact statement from the girl’s mother was also read out in court, in which she described how the offending left her daughter feeling frightened, withdrawn and ashamed at a critical period in her life.
Stanley said Burton had benefited from reading the statement and now understood the extent of the harm caused to the victim.
“At the time this was going on, Mr Burton was probably in a world of pain; things weren’t going well in his life.
“He was thinking only of himself and he wasn’t thinking if this was the right thing to do, to be messaging this young person.”
She said Burton knew his behaviour was wrong, but with the passage of time had become increasingly aware of why his behaviour was unacceptable and against the law.
Stanley said her client had taken steps to address his alcohol addiction but that further help, including from a doctor, might also be required.
Finally, she said Burton was now living with a couple who were keen to support him and his home life was the most stable it had been in years.
Stay in the community, judge says
In sentencing, Judge Sainsbury said whatever Burton may or may not have intended, he had overlooked the age and circumstances of the victim at the time of his offending.
But the judge said the key issue in sentencing was how to avoid future victims, noting the offending tended to occur when Burton was isolated and abusing alcohol.
While prison would meet the sentencing objectives of deterrence and denunciation, it would not address Burton’s rehabilitative needs.
Set against that, he was living with a supportive couple and was taking steps to address his alcohol addiction.
“The best chance of avoiding further victims is for you to stay in the community with the support you have around you,” Judge Sainsbury said.
On a charge of blackmail, Burton was sentenced to six months’ home detention and ordered to serve 100 hours of community work.
A number of conditions were also imposed, including that he not contact the victim.
