Male model, 19, who secretly filmed himself having sex with girl who thought they were in a 'loving' relationship before sending to 18 mates is spared prison 'by the skin of his teeth'
A teenage male model who was spared prison 'by the skin of his teeth' after secretly filming himself having sex with a girl and sharing it with his friends.
Milo James, 19, led the girl to believe that she was at the beginning of a new relationship when he took her virginity on her 18th birthday.
The pair had sex twice and during the encounter James, from Cheshire, used his phone to secretly record the pair before sending a 'bragging' 12 second video clip to 18 friends via Snapchat.
The girl, who cannot be named, was so devastated at discovering private videos of her had been shared that she dropped out of a college degree and lives in fear in her hometown.
The teenager, who had modelled for clothing brands including Nike and The North Face, was handed a nine-month suspended sentence.
Milo James, 19, secretly filmed himself having sex with a girl on her 18th birthday before sending a 12 second clip to 18 friends
The Nike model initially denied that he had filmed the girl or sent the videos but pleaded guilty in court to disclosing private sexual photographs or film with the intent of causing distress
James had invited the girl back to his home after her 18th birthday party at a cricket club and the pair proceeded to have consensual sex.
At Chester Crown Court, it emerged she had seen James with a mobile phone during their night together but when she challenged him about filming her he flatly denied it.
The following day, the girl was told by a friend that a number of people had been sent the video.
She confronted James about it at his home but the 19-year-old refused to come out of the house and instead messaged her on Snapchat, admitting some people had seen the clip but promising to delete it.
However when police recovered his phone, they found the 12 second clip which had been sent to 18 of his friends at around 1.30am.
Following the distressing episode, the girl said she no longer goes out to pubs and clubs in her home town in case she sees James or any of his friends who have seen the video and she lives in fear that the video might have been shared online.
At court, James who pleaded guilty to disclosing private sexual photographs or film with the intent of causing distress, faced up to 18 months in jail.
However, he was spared jail and was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for two years,
James pictured outside Chester Crown Court. The 19-year-old narrowly avoided jail and received a nine month suspended sentence
Sentencing Judge Steven Everett told him: 'It was her 18th birthday and she obviously liked you and I am presuming you liked her as well. She had never had sex before. You had sex twice and on the second occasion for reasons that escape me you decided you would video her as you were having sex with her from behind.
'It is clear that she did not know what you were going to do and it is certainly clear that she would never have agreed to you disclosing those images.
'What is meant to be, dare I say it, a private and loving act turned out to be just a horrible experience for her.
'You compounded that by then bragging to your mates sending out those images, to every one of them, up to 18 people, on social media. You have no idea how many passed on the images to others.
'That devastation that she felt as a result of your truly mean and selfish act cannot be calculated. She will never know if those images are out there.. She makes a perfectly valid point in that she does not want to go out to the local pubs or clubs in case she meets you and your mates and it is not her who should feel ashamed, it is you who should feel ashamed.
'She felt embarrassment and shame and it overwhelmingly affected her studies.. She struggled to get a job. She got distressed, upset, she could not concentrate. She has to pay for her studies. I do not think anyone should underestimate the effect on a young person through this particular selfish behaviour.
'A really important part of a young person's life has been taken away from her, the ability to grow and enjoy life as a young person - you have robbed her of that. It was a truly disgraceful thing to do.
James avoided prison by the 'skin of his teeth' as the judge said there was a 'realistic prospect of rehabilitation'
'She believed, I have no doubt, that she was at the start of a loving relationship. In that regard she became fully open to you. She was prepared to have sex with you. She trusted you and you totally betrayed that trust. She was vulnerable.
'It has clear this has passed the custody threshold but I keep in mind your immaturity, naivety, and age. You are not regarded as a lost cause. I have just about come to the conclusion you are a realistic prospect of rehabilitation but you have escaped custody by the skin of your teeth. '
Earlier prosecutor Peter Hussey said 'The defendant had been invited by the complainant to her 18th birthday party. She was happily celebrating that day and obviously drink played a part.
'Towards the end of the evening she decided to go with the defendant to his house. The intention was that they would have consensual sexual intercourse there.
'She was dropped off there. She explained that they had sex on two occasions. During the second time she noticed that the defendant had his mobile phone. She said, 'You are not filming me are you?'
'He denied that he was. That turned out to be a lie.
'He thought nothing more of it and accepted what he said but a couple of days later she had a phone call from a friend saying her boyfriend had been shown a video of her and him having sexual intercourse. She was immediately thrown by that and went around to the defendant's house to challenge him about it.
'Having gone out to his house, she rang him and asked him to come out but he refused to do so. There was a confrontation on the phone call and he admitted a few people had been shown the video. He subsequently sent her a message over Snapchat saying that he had taken a video but did not send it and deleted it.
'That too was a lie. When he was arrested, the phone was reviewed and checked and the 12 second clip was recovered. It had been sent over a period of 12 hours, 1.30 am to 1.20pm to around 18 others.'
Mr Hussey added: 'You can imagine the horror she felt about that. The fact it was her 18th birthday will stay with her forever. It will be remembered when she celebrates any birthday and wipes out all the good memories of her birthday.
'She feels extremely emotional and a lot of anger about what happened and why he came to do this to her when it seemed that it was the beginning of a relationship.
'She also felt it unfair that she had to go through the process of having to bring someone to justice as a result of what he had done to her. She was unable to sleep, it affected her psychology, it affected members of the family. '
James was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work, 30 days of rehabilitation activity and a four month 7pm to 6am curfew.
His counsel Gurdit Singh said in mitigation: 'He is acutely aware of the seriousness of this matter and the impact in particular it has had on the victim.
'He is genuinely sorry, remorseful, for what he has done. There are numerous character references which is a clearer picture of the person he is truly is, a caring, young, compassionate person who has ultimately made a devastating mistake.'
