August 11, 2020
Straight British Couple Sentenced for Same-Sex Blackmail Plot
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A British heterosexual couple was sentenced in connection with a plot to extort money from a husband and father who had been "struggling" with his sexuality, reported local newspaper the Swindon Advertiser.
Jeremy Reeve and Lisa Glenwright - who have two children and were described as being "partners," but not husband and wife - were having money problems when the extortion scheme began, the newspaper reported.
The prosecution in the case outlined how the victim and Reeve had been friends in the past and had "a sexual relationship" at some point. The victim had become a husband and father when he reached out to Reeve via Facebook in 2018. The Advertiser reported that "the pair exchanged erotic images and pictures" over the course of that summer - exchanges that fueled the blackmail plot.
Glenwright seemed to instigated the extortion, sending a text that read: "Bills need to be paid," and issuing instructions to "message that twat and tell him give me money or I'll open my mouth. Ha, ha, ha."
At a later point, Glenwright texted Reeve: "You spoken to that gay since I left? Are you trying to get money out of him?"
The Advertiser detailed how the extortion scheme unfolded in a predictable manner, with Reeve issuing a demand for £2,000 in November of 2018. But that was not the end of it; two days later, Glenwright made her own blackmail demand, extorting £3,000 from the victim.
Having already forked over £5,000, the victim went to the police. When the couple demanded a further £3,000 a few days later, they were arrested. Meantime, the plot had been "devastating" to the victim and his family, the court was told, with the victim contemplating suicide.
After his apprehension by the police, Reeve claimed that the victim - described as "an older man" - had sexually abused him in his youth, but upon investigation the police determined his story to be "contradictory," the newspaper story recounted.
Glenwright was handed 18 months' jail time, as was Reeve, though Reeve's jail time was suspended. Reeve was also required to put in 300 hours of community service.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
