TWO men have appeared in court charged with identifying an alleged victim of a rape on Facebook.

Kemal Rapetti and Guy Claude both pleaded guilty to publishing information about the woman’s name on the social media website in July last year after the conclusion of a separate court hearing.

Rapetti, of Skipton Court, and Claude, of St Aidens Drive, both Middlesbrough, appeared before Teesside Magistrates Court in this morning (Monday, January 8) for breaching the Sexual Offences Act.

The court heard that Rapetti, who had posted a message on Facebook, was unaware that he was committing an offence and pleaded guilty on his first appearance.

The 28-year-old car salesman knew people involved in the court case but did not realise he was committing a criminal offence when he named her in a comment on the website, the court heard.

While 22-year-old university student Claude had known the alleged victim for several years and accepted he had tagged her in a post on the website without realising the gravity of his actions.

Alan Davison, prosecuting, told the court that the victim had attempted to self-harm and had required psychiatric help after seeing that her name had been published despite having life-long anonymity.

He said: “Mr Rapetti had written ‘I don’t wish any bad for you but karma will catch up with you one day’.”

Mr Davison said when the victim saw she had been named she grabbed a knife from her kitchen and attempted to self-harm while she was on the phone to police and was admitted to a mental health unit for a few days for treatment.

In her impact statement she said: “I was depressed and couldn’t go out of the house because I was so nervous.”

In mitigation for Rapetti, Andrew McGee said: “He conceded he wrote the comment on Facebook at a time when emotions were running high. The defendant didn’t realise that he was committing an offence when he posted what he did.”

Claude said: “I wish I didn’t do it, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into at the time. I have known her for a long time.”

Rapetti was given an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £200 compensation, £85 in court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Earlier, Claude was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 court costs and the £15 victim surcharge.