NRL player's ex had 'mother's duty' to share images

Kids found sexually explicit images on an iPad brought from an NRL player's home, a court has heard. (AP PHOTO)

The former partner of an NRL player has invoked her duty as a mother to explain why she sent sexually explicit images of his new girlfriend without permission to a friend.

The woman has pleaded not guilty to two charges of intentionally distributing intimate images without consent after she sent the photos of her former partner’s new girlfriend to a close friend in October 2022.

The accused had hosted a sleepover for her children, whose custody she shares with her ex-partner, and her friend’s two children.

The children had been playing with an iPad, which was brought from the player’s home, when they discovered sexually explicit images and videos of his new partner and messages relating to domestic violence on the device.

“I felt disgusted by the fact that my six-year-old son knows and sees this - morally this is not something for them to show my children,” she said in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.

The woman told her friend of what the children had witnessed when she came to pick her kids up.

Her friend was “extremely disgusted” about the contents on the iPad and the fact her children had witnessed it.

“She asked to see what her two children had seen on the iPad at my house,” the woman said.

“Because she was their mother, she had the right to know firsthand what her children had seen.”

“If I was in that position, I would want to know what my children had seen. I felt the duty to inform her what this content was.”

The accused was questioned about threats after seeing text messages on the iPad she believed related to physical and verbal violence between her ex and his new partner.

“I have everything on the record now if you do any wrong by the kids or myself, this will go to court,” the accused texted him following the discovery.

The woman was concerned about how responsible her ex-partner and his girlfriend were around their children.

“It made me extremely concerned for my children's safety and the psychological damage that would have on my children,” she said.

The matter returns to court on Friday.

Lifeline 13 11 14

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)

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