Dubai: A television director has been jailed for six months for threatening a Frenchwoman on social media that he would produce a porn movie using her photos if she didn’t pay him Dh86,000.

The Lebanese TV and cinema director met the Frenchwoman in 2014 and befriended her after convincing her that he could help her find a job in Dubai.

He took several photos of the woman once they became close, said records.

The woman said the Lebanese contacted her two years later on several social media platforms on which he asked her to pay him Dh86,000 if she did not want to see herself in a porn movie.

Once she contacted Dubai Police, the Frenchwoman was directed to lodge an email complaint to the cybercrime section.

In her emailed complaint, the Frenchwoman said the defendant had threatened to tinker with her photos (which he had taken with his phone when they were friends between 2014 and 2016), make montages of them and have them turned into a sex video if she didn’t pay him money.

Dubai Police’s cybercrime section instructed the Frenchwoman to communicate with the Lebanese man and to give the impression that she was ready to pay him the money.

On Tuesday, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the Lebanese defendant of misusing social media (Facebook and WhatsApp) and the internet to extort the Frenchwoman and threaten her and of breaching her privacy and modesty. He was convicted of abusing the telecommunications system to stalk, disturb and offend the woman.

Presiding judge Mohammad Jamal said the two phones and memory stick that the accused had used to commit his crime will be confiscated. The defendant, who had pleaded innocent, will be deported following the completion of his jail term.

A cybercrime police lieutenant testified that the woman reported her ordeal after she lodged an email complaint.

“The woman resides in France and she contacted us by email in which she complained that the suspect had threatened to montage her photos and produce them into a sex movie. She said the accused told her he would upload the movie on Facebook and the internet. She said he had taken those photos when they were friends during the last three years. She mentioned that the defendant’s professional experience as a TV and cinema director allows him to produce such a movie.

“The defendant also gathered a few photos of the woman and her family and wrote offensive comments on Facebook, according to her emailed complaint. She said he blackmailed her and asked for money. He also contacted her on WhatsApp. Upon confronting him with the emailed complaint, the defendant claimed that he did what he did to get back the money he had spent on her during their relationship,” the lieutenant said.

Tuesday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.