Mum blackmailed man out of £200 by threatening to accuse him of rape
A scheming mum who blackmailed a man by accusing him of rape has avoided jail.
Chelsea Orton, 22 and from Warwickshire, blackmailed her victim out of £200 in 2019 and left him needing anti-depressants after being abused by people who wrongly thought he was a rapist.
The mum-of-one even went so far to tell his family about the rape, in order to give her fake story credibility.
She admitted blackmail and was handed an 18-month prison term, suspended for 12 months at Warwick Crown Court, and was ordered to pay her victim £200 in compensation.
In a statement, the victim revealed how seriously the blackmail and the allegations had affected him.
He said: ‘When all this happened and Chelsea was blackmailing me I felt trapped.
‘I was scared and this caused me anxiety. As it went on and it was reported to the police I became depressed. I had sleepless nights.
‘Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, all I could think was that I would be arrested because of her lies.’
The victim also detailed how the local community turned on him, with everyone assuming he was a rapist.
He said: ‘Her behaviour has had an impact on my social life. I had incidents when I was out at my local pub where random people would come up to me and call me a rapist.
‘I had to see my GP to help me cope, I was prescribed anti-depressants.’
The court heard the victim was so distraught he was forced to change his phone number to stop her contacting him.
After plucking up the courage to report the blackmail to the police in August 2019, Orton reported the rape to officers just two days later.
The force made the decision to investigate the rape allegation first, and it wasn’t until January when Orton was questioned over the blackmail.
Prosecutor Caroline Harris said: ‘The defendant was interviewed on January 5 and she accepted that the telephone number was hers and said she wasn’t responsible for sending all the messages and blamed her friend.
‘She accepted taking money from him, around £60 to £100, and when a higher figure was put to her she accepted that this was possible too.’
Recorder Louisa Ciecióra told her: ‘In July 2019 you told the victim that he had raped you and repeatedly demanded money from him in order to keep quiet and not report it to the police.
‘The blackmail included the threat to report the matter to the police in respect of serious sexual offence.
‘The impact on the victim has been quite severe, he had to go through a police investigation and is suffering ongoing distress as a result of your conduct.’
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