Editorial: Sentence sends a message

With so much social media around being used by millions of people, it is difficult to gauge online whether someone is genuine. Photo / Thinkstock

Tough sentences are needed if people are going to change their bad habits on social media.

And we have an example of one in today's paper. Jacob Kirby-Parker was 24 when he blackmailed a 14-year-old girl into sending him nude photos.

Kirby-Parker has been described as a social media addict. When his victim "blocked" him, he threatened to post nude photos of her.

He had obtained the nude photos through a blackmail threat as well. His punishment was 19 months in jail.

That sentence needs to find its way around social media circles quickly - there will be a lot of young males, and females, going "you can go to jail for that?" Yes you can, and should.

Social media is a haven for young people, and older of course, who have difficulty communicating face-to-face.

Online, they are "normal", they can say what they like and be confident, suave or cute. It is difficult to gauge online whether someone is genuine - it is very easy to be an online fraud. And so it is easy for good kids to be caught up with the wrong person. Like all crimes, there will be reasons contributing to Kirby-Parker's offending, and hopefully he receives appropriate rehabilitation. The real victim is the young lady he manipulated. She is not alone, online relationships gone wrong are so common in the United States that a TV series has been made out of these mishaps. It has to stop.

This wasn't the toughest sentence handed out in the Whangarei District Court this week, but it was one of the most important.