Australian MP’s gay lover pleads guilty to blackmail
A leading Australian politician was targeted by a man he had sex with who threatened to out him unless he paid him $15,000 (£6,670).
25-year-old Jake Della-Vedova said he would expose the married MP’s secret gay life with a clandestine video recording of them having sex.
They met online and Della-Vedova, who worked as a waiter in a Melbourne restuarant popular with politicians, threatened to release the sex tape on the internet.
He pleaed guilty to blackmail at the Melbourne Magistrates Court last year and faces up to 15 years in jail when he is sentenced later this week.
The MP’s name has been kept secret, a normal procedure in blackmail cases.
Newspapers in Australia are not revealing if the victim is a member of the federal parliament or a state legislature.
Della-Vedova approached the politician last year after their relationship ended and was reported to police.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that police raided Della-Vedova’s apartment in Melbourne a seized a computer and mobile phones.
“A number of items were located on his computer and in the mobile phone records relating to the offence,” the officer said.
“He has made full admissions and has pleaded guilty.”
