Riewoldt denies meeting photo girl

St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt says he has never met the teenage girl who posted
nude photographs of him and two AFL team-mates on the internet, adding he's
"distressed" at the situation.
The 17-year-old girl posted the photos of Riewoldt, Nick Dal Santo and Zac Dawson on
Facebook on Monday and vowed to release more pictures of footballers on Tuesday
afternoon, despite the Federal Court ordering her not to.
She said on national television on Tuesday she intended releasing more photographs
and other information she claims incriminates AFL players.
Riewoldt, 28, said the photo of him was taken by team-mate Sam Gilbert a year ago
during a holiday in Miami as he was getting out of bed.
Gilbert has confirmed that he was the photographer.
"For the record, I have never met the person who published the photograph on
Facebook or who owns the Facebook site," Riewoldt said.
"That a person I have no association with has sought to impugn me is the cause of
great distress to myself, my girlfriend, my family and my friends.
"These photographs were private photographs and we believe they have been obtained
without any knowledge or consent.
"To infer that I would stand there and pose for a photograph naked knowing that it
was going to be kept is just absolute garbage and offensive."
The situation may have driven a wedge between two of the Saints' most talented players.
According to Riewoldt, instead of deleting the photos as asked, Gilbert saved them
to his computer and they were removed from his computer without permission.
"I confirm emphatically that the photo was taken by myself and taken in Nicks hotel
room in Miami while on holidays over 12 months ago," Gilbert said in a statement
issued late on Tuesday.
"I can also confirm that the pictures that were posted on Facebook were taken from
my computer and that is currently subject to discussion with the Victoria Police."
Gilbert also confirmed that Riewoldt "has never met and does not know" the girl who
admits she posted the photographs.
The player also apologised to his teammates for the scandal he has inadvertently
dropped them in.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to offer my public apologies to Nick
Riewoldt, Nick Dal Santo, Zac Dawson and their families as well as the St Kilda
Football Club for the distress this may have caused," he said.
The teenager who posted the photographs claims to have taken them herself and that
the players consented.
She denies she tried to sell them, despite several media outlets claiming they were
approached by the girl shopping the images around.
"I know a few media outlets have found out about them and I showed them but I never
once asked for money," she told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
The girl earlier this year claimed to have become pregnant to a St Kilda footballer
while a schoolgirl but the baby was stillborn.
She was interviewed by police and the AFL at the time but two players were cleared
of inappropriate behaviour.
She said she wasn't in it for the money and was driven by revenge.
"I just wanted to get back at them, basically, because ... just the way I was
treated by the AFL. It wasn't right," she said.
Asked if she intended to release more photographs, she replied: "Yeah, definitely,
once I make a new Facebook page ... Who's going to stop me?"
She may also release a video.
"I have a scrapbook that has every single photograph in it that's been printed out,
every single conversation that a player has had with me," she told the Nine Network.
"You know, text messages, like everything.
"Anything that's bad that I have on them."
The girl says no court order has been "served on her", but media lawyer Jason Quill
said being aware of it was "technically" enough to be bound by it.
The AFL Players Association called for stronger legal protection "for high-profile
people who are subjected to these kinds of seemingly malicious actions".