A sizeable number of women and underage girls in Wexford have had their personal, sensitive images shared on a Snapchat account without their consent, the Wexford People reports.

Many of the 200 women from across the county claim they were minors at the time the intimate images were taken, with Gardaí from the Wexford Divisional Protective Services Unit (DPSU) confirming their awareness of the list on a faceless account.

Gardaí are in the process of contacting as many of the women involved as possible, but many of the women and minors had already presented to Wexford Garda Station to express their concerns at having their sensitive images shared by this anonymous account.

Allegedly, around fifty women have been contacted already. Understandably, many are extremely distressed that images they may have shared with a boyfriend or trusted partners years ago are being shared online. Some are still said to be underage, necessitating the involvement of Tusla to address child sexual abuse imagery.

While the majority are aged 21 to 23, the ages of those involved reportedly stretch right up to 40. Some women apparently suggested that they were told their images would be removed from the account in exchange for images of other girls.

Gardaí have once again stressed that “the publication and/or sharing of intimate images without consent is a criminal offence. An Garda Síochána fully recognises that the publication of intimate images without the consent of individuals causes great upset and trauma to them.

“Any person who is concerned that they have been a victim following the uploading of personal explicit imagery online without their consent, at any time, should contact their local Garda Station.”

Wexford Garda Divisional Headquarters: (053) 916 5200

Garda.ie: What do i do if non-consensual intimate images are shared?