PENRITH Panthers boss Phil Gould says he is “shattered” by the sex tape scandal that has engulfed his club as he backed the NRL’s decision to stand down Tyrone May.
The Panthers playmaker on Tuesday turned himself into police over the latest scandal to rock the NRL.
The 22-year-old declined to be interviewed but was charged with two counts of recording an intimate image without consent and two counts of disseminating an image without consent.
Under NSW’s revenge porn laws, offenders face up to three years in jail and an $11,000 fine.
The NRL later issued a statement saying May was subject to its new no-fault stand down policy that was given the green light by the ARL commission last week.
Penrith also issued a statement saying the club supported standing May down. “Panthers acknowledges the seriousness of the charges and agrees the decision is in the best interests of the game,” chairman David O’Neill said. “May will continue to train with the club and we will work closely with the NRL and the RLPA to ensure his wellbeing.”
The May footage was released on the internet last Friday before another video involving two other Penrith players was released on Monday.
In an interview with Nine, Gould said he believed the filming of intimate acts across the game was “extremely widespread”.
And talking to people in circles who deal with this every day – court judges and police and all that sort of thing – we’re dealing with this in all walks of life,” Gould said.
“And the real worrying thing is that this is conditioned into the kids in the schools. This age of technology and mobile phones and cameras, it is commonplace from a very, very young age. Kids will be sharing videos and explicit videos.”
In regard to if he felt let down by the playing group, Gould said it was “at the bare minimum”, while he hoped the scandal wouldn’t wreck the club’s season.
“I hope not. We have a very strong club and I’m shattered that this has happened to our club but we’ll get through it,” he said.
It is alleged May filmed two women without their knowledge while he engaged in sexual acts at Coffs Harbour and Kingswood in western Sydney last year. Both women were unaware they were being filmed and did not consent to the recording or its distribution.
They were made aware of the videos by friends and family over recent days and complained to police.
May has been granted bail and will face Penrith local court on May 1. “The devastation the victims have to experienced through the criminal conduct of someone else has significant ramifications for the future for them, for their relationships, for their family, for their own self confidence, their own self esteem, it’s a humiliating thing that can become public,” Detective Superintendent Brett McFadden said.
Under rules approved by the game’s independent commission last week, Rugby League Central can automatically sideline players charged with crimes which carry a jail term of 11 years or more.
Greenberg also has the discretion to stand down a player who is charged with a less serious offence.
