(Melbourne, Australia) A man who attempted to blackmail a closeted member of Australia’s Parliament was sent to prison Monday.

The name of the politician has been suppressed.  All that is known about him is he is married.

“You intentionally exploited an aspect of the victim’s sexuality which you knew made him vulnerable, especially in light of his position in our community,” Judge Lisa Hannan said in passing sentence.

“It is sad that this remains the sort of information that in our society is used for blackmail, but it is the reality,” she said.

Court in Melbourne was told that Della-Vedova met the politician last June on a gay chat site. Over the next month the pair exchanged test messages and agreed to meet at Della-Vedova’s home.

Prosecutor Simon Cooper told the court that after having sex Della-Vedova complained that he was short of money and the politician gave him $150 (Au) that he had at the time in his wallet.

During another visit the politician handed over another $250.

But what the politician did not know at the time was that Della-Vedova had secretly video taped the sexual encounters.

Della-Vedova later began threatening the man with exposure if he did not hand over more money.

The politician instead went to police.  Della-Vedova was arrested when he arranged to meet the politician to get the cash.

Police later searched Della-Vedova’s home and found the taped sexual encounters on a computer.  Under questioning Della-Vedova confessed.

Della-Vedova could have received up to 15 years behind bars.