A NSW police officer is facing serious criminal charges after allegedly sharing video of himself having sex with a woman wearing a collar and lead, taken without her consent.
Constable Alexander James Cox, 30, appeared in Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday, facing one count of recording intimate images without consent and two counts of distributing intimate images without consent.
He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Fellow police officers Zachary Barrett and Sam Kirk told the court Cox had shown them the video, saying it was of himself and a woman with whom he had a brief sexual relationship.
“At the time, we were in the garage ... I believe we were doing a gym workout," Mr Barrett told the court.
“Alex told us ... he was going to show us something and that we couldn't tell anyone.”
Mr Barrett said in the video the woman was in a "doggy style" position and wearing a black collar and lead around her neck.
Cox's lawyer Paul McGirr argued the woman is not identifiable in the video, and that neither of the men could specifically recall seeing her "distinctive tattoos", suggesting it is not her.
"You don’t know who they are," Mr McGirr put to Mr Barrett.
"For instance that could be something off a porn website to your knowledge.
"In essence you could have been hoodwinked by Mr Cox.”
Mr Barrett agreed with Mr McGirr that the circumstance of the moment were "a bit of a laugh amongst the boys”, but said while he didn't recall a tattoo in the video that did not mean it wasn't there.
"My attention wasn’t based on the tattoo," Mr Barrett told the court.
The court was told Cox was in a consensual sexual relationship with the woman but that she had never given him permission to film them having sex and did not recall him making any such recordings.
Cox and the woman had sex on several occasions at his apartment at Engadine, in southern Sydney, during which they had sometimes used a collar and lead that she owned and brought with her, the court was told.
A photograph of the woman having sex with Cox that displayed her tattoos was also allegedly shown by him to another police colleague.
Mr McGirr, described the police investigation into the allegations as "extremely poor" and noted no such photos or videos had been retrieved from his client's phone after it was seized.
The woman told the court she was not aware of Mr Cox ever taking intimate images of her and the pair had ended their brief relationship on good terms.
“I thought trust was involved," she said.
The hearing will continue on Wednesday.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
