Angry woman shared intimate image on Snapchat after phone discovery

Rachel Charubin found the image on her partner's phone after he was taken into police custody last year.

The Wodonga Magistrates Court heard Charubin had taken possession of the phone on July 2, and created a group on Snapchat referencing the victim's name.

Charubin posted an image of the woman's groin area, leading to several people contacting the victim with concerns about what had occurred.

The court heard it was impossible to tell how far the image had circulated.

Charubin, who was already on a community corrections order for her role in a series of drive-by shootings in Wodonga, was questioned on September 2 last year.

Police asked about the Snapchat post.

"I found it on his phone, I posted it on his Snapchat," she told investigators.

"Yeah I got pissed off, naturally.

"I didn't know it was hers, that's for sure."

The victim confirmed the image was of her genitals.

Lawyer Chirag Patel said Charubin was annoyed after finding the photograph on her partner's phone.

He said she claimed not to know it was of the woman after discovering it.

"What she then did is effectively posted it on the Snapchat group," he said.

"At that point she had no idea who the image belonged to."

Mr Patel said his client "felt hurt" her partner had the image but didn't mean any direct harm to the victim.

He said Charubin had been trying to "flush out" who the image belonged to.

Mr Patel said his client had made full and frank admissions to the offending.

Magistrate Ian Watkins said questions of who the photograph depicted should have been put to her partner, not shared.

I accept that this lady would have been humiliated by the publication of her intimate image," he said.

Mr Watkins said while many people had intimate images on their phones and other devices, "it's not appropriate to distribute that material to third parties".

Mr Watkins noted the penalties for the offending could include jail time.

"If this happens again, you're going to have to have strong reasons to persuade a magistrate not to send you to jail," he said.

He fined Charubin $850, plus costs, and imposed a conviction.

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