Jailed: Controlling Telford man posted naked photos of woman on Facebook

Caleb Hale, 26, from Windsor Road, Arleston, was sentenced to 38 months in prison at Shrewsbury Crown Court - sitting at Telford Magistrates Court - after pleading guilty to four offences.

He admitted a charge of controlling or coercive behaviour over four years, threatening to distribute private sexual photos, stalking, and sending a threatening communication - to a separate victim.

Anthony Longworth, prosecuting, told Judge David Hale that Hale had insisted that the first victim had FaceTime switched on at all times on her phone, that she unfriended people on social media networks, would stop her seeing people, dictated what she was allowed to wear, and had access to her telephone and all her social media accounts.

The court was told of occasions where Hale could not contact her and would send a stream of messages and abuse until she was available for video calls again.

Mr Longworth said the most serious incident came when the victim told Hale she was pregnant and he became angry and pinned her down and punched her in the stomach.

The prosecutor added that Hale would not allow her out on her own and made her block all male friends - including a friend of her father - on Facebook.

He said: “It reached a point where she had no one to speak to, with Mr Hale saying he wanted her just for himself.”

The court was also told Hale had issued threats towards the victim’s family and insisted on her video calling him while showering, sleeping or carrying out household tasks.

Mr Longworth said that on May 30, 2020, Hale posted 14 photos of the victim to a Facebook chat, some with her in underwear and some fully naked, as well as videos.

Mr Longworth said the victim had told how following the four-year ordeal she does not have many friends, finds it difficult to stay in work, or sleep and has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Debra White, mitigating for Hale, said he had pleaded guilty to the charges and was remorseful for his behaviour.

“He is remorseful for his actions," she said.

"He understands, particularly in relation to count three - the sharing of images - he will say he was angry at the time and could have dealt with that in many different ways and not the way he did.”

She added that Hale would be addressing his own behaviour before starting any relationship and had himself suffered from depression and anxiety.

"He understands there are issues that he needs to address,” she said.

Sentencing Judge Hale told the defendant: “Over the course of four years you controlled her life in very many ways - far outside the range of conduct that usually occurs.

“Yes there was violence and arguments, interspersed with expressions of love, but you were filming her all the time, checking everything.”

Judge David Hale said the defendant’s actions had made his victim’s life “a misery”.

“Reading the whole gamut of her statement, rather than the summary, it is really a very bad case of controlling behaviour and it must be obvious to you that people do not behave like this - but you did,” he said.

He told Hale that his victim had suffered long-term issues which were still impacting her.

“You must have known how wrong this was," he added.

Judge Hale sentenced the defendant to a total of 38 months in prison, rejecting a request from Ms White to suspend the jail term.

He said: “It is way outside the period I could suspend and I would not suspend it if I could.”

The court also imposed a restraining order preventing Hale from contacting his victim.