A MAN has pleaded guilty to disclosing private sexual images of a woman on social media.

The photo showed the woman in a bath, exposing her breasts.

Liam Walmsley, aged 24, admitted at Bolton Crown Court to posting the photo on Facebook on August 5.

Walmsley said he sent the photo out of ‘spite’.

It remained online for approximately five minutes, the court heard.

Walmsley’s cousin reported the picture and it was removed.

Walmsley then attempted to post the photo for a second time, but this was intercepted by Facebook moderators and his account was blocked.

Walmsley had sent “threatening” texts, warning the woman that he was going to post the photos publicly.

The court heard that these texts were sent with “the intention to cause her distress”.

In a statement, the victim said: “I felt disgusted and violated.”

She said that the incident had impacted her confidence and stopped her from sleeping.

“My mind will not switch off thinking who has seen the photo,” she said in her statement read out to the court.

The complainant said she had been shouted at by passers-by since the photo was published, and believed its explicit nature was the reason she had been approached in the street.

She added: “I know my colleagues at work had seen the image,” resulting in her going on long-term sick.

However, the defence is now mounting a trial of issue on this point.

Walmsley argued that the woman’s work colleagues could not have seen the photo because of the short amount of time it was public and his limited number of friends.

Walmsley was said to have had a history of “coercive and controlling” behaviour.

Since June 2017, there have been five police callouts to his home.

He has a criminal record, featuring seven offences and five convictions.

The record includes him being drunk and disorderly, as well as possession of cocaine, cannabis and theft.

Judge Timothy Stead adjourned sentencing for further investigation into exactly who had seen the photograph.

The court heard that it is difficult to assess just how many people might have seen the image, due to the fast-paced nature of sharing content on social media.

However, the judge said that any findings were necessary to determine what kind of action should be taken and the length of any sentence.

Judge Stead requested that Facebook and the work colleagues be involved in the gathering of this information.