Man jailed for sending photo of woman to 'swingers' website

Sashon Lewis, of Chestnut Close, Hardwicke, was convicted by a jury last December of publishing the picture. 

He also admitted charges of supplying friends with cocaine as well as being in possession of both cocaine and cannabis.

However, he was cleared of kidnapping the woman and strangling her at the Coaley Peak beauty spot near Dursley.

In court Lewis was described by a judge as a ‘menace to women'. 

The court heard that the woman was 'mortified' when a friend contacted her to tell her that an intimate picture of herself had appeared on Lewis' profile on the 'FabSwingers' website.

The woman told the trial jury that the photograph was taken on her phone during 2020 and that she had consented to it - but not to anyone else seeing it.

“I sent it to him, but it was a private message and Lewis had no permission to share it with anyone else,” she said. "I felt sick when I saw it. It was degrading."

Sashon Lewis, of Hardwicke, has been jailed for three years (Image: Gloucestershire Police)

Prosecutor Alistair Haggerty said: “Lewis admitted that he had posted it on his FabSwingers profile, but said he had superimposed an emoji over her face so she could not be identified. 

“He denied that he had done it as a form of 'revenge porn' against her.”

Mr Haggerty then outlined the drugs offence which occurred on November 20, 2020 at around 1.30am when Lewis was stopped by police driving his Audi A3 in the city centre. 

"The police searched his vehicle and found three mobile phones, a small bag of white powder which later turned out to be cocaine and a small bag of cannabis," said Mr Haggerty. 

"Lewis was taken into custody and a fourth mobile phone and nine wraps was found.

"The value of this was £390. An analysis of his found that they contained messages in relation to drug dealing.

"Lewis explained that he was selling drugs to a small group of friends and didn’t make much financially from these transactions."

Sarah Jenkins, defending said: “There has been a significant delay in this case coming to court and there has been no evidence of Lewis returning to his old ways. 

“The drugs operation was conducted on a small scale and he only sold it to friends. He hasn’t returned to this form of offending since his arrest.

"His drug use escalated during the pandemic lockdown and he turned to dealing to supplement his income, which had decreased during this period.
 
“I feel that because of the time factor in his cases coming to court, that the inevitable custodial sentence could be suspended."

Lewis was found guilty by a jury of disclosing a sexual image of a woman on a specialist website in 2020. 

He also admitted being in possession of a quantity of cocaine with intent to supply, and possession of cocaine and cannabis on November 20, 2020.

"Menace to women" says judge 

The judge, Recorder Don Tait told Lewis: “Looking at your previous convictions and listening to some of the details in your recent trial, it is quite clear you are a menace to women. 

“You assault them. You insult them. And on your own admission during the trial, you lied to these women. What I know about you is that you move from one woman to the next one in quick succession.

“Those previous matters aggravate this offence of disclosing that intimate photograph of a woman you posted on the internet. 

“As far as the drugs matters are concerned, I sentence you on the basis of a plea that you were only dealing amongst friends, but this still crosses the custody threshold.

"However, there has been a significant delay in this case coming to court and this will be reflected in a slightly reduced sentence.”

The judge sentenced Lewis to three years imprisonment and ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and the deprivation of the mobile phones. 

Lewis was warned that an existing restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the woman by any means, remains in force till 2027.