Brendon Luke Ryder (34) - who has played for the Marlborough region - appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after admitting a count of misusing a telephone device.
He pleaded guilty after the charge was amended from blackmail.
The court heard how Ryder met his teenage victim through social media in 2018 when he asked if she would have sex with him for money.
The woman - a university student at the time - declined the offer, but later that year the man had a new proposition.
Ryder said he would pay the victim in exchange for explicit images and videos.
She agreed, and over the ensuing months she held up her end of the bargain.
The woman repeatedly requested payment from Ryder but was met with excuses, and he went on to request more X-rated files.
Crown prosecutor Clementine Flatley said the victim had suffered significant stress and anxiety, and been "withdrawn and detached from daily life" since the event. She had since dropped out of university, the court heard.
Ryder met another woman through social media in January 2021. The pair exchanged graphic images before going on a date in Blenheim.
The victim left the country shortly afterwards but Ryder became "emotionally invested ... obsessive and jealous", according to court documents.
The defendant contacted the woman’s friends and family, claiming she had slept with him for money and had given him a sexually transmitted infection.
He left a lewd message reiterating the accusations on a social-media page of the victim’s brother, causing her "severe emotional distress".
Last year, Ryder was convicted under the Harmful Digital Communications Act and sentenced to 150 hours’ community work - before the earlier crime emerged.
Judge David Robinson said the defendant had not completed that penalty because of a shoulder injury and thus would be sentenced on both matters.
Counsel Marcus Zintl said his client struggled to communicate with women in person.
"The push of a few buttons can lead to significant consequences for victims," he said.
Ryder had previously lacked "emotional maturity", Mr Zintl said, but had since been educated.
A probation report assessed the defendant as showing some insight into his crimes but there remained some derogatory attitudes, Judge Robinson noted.
Since Ryder’s injury had improved, he imposed 100 hours’ community work.
The defendant was also sentenced to nine months’ supervision and ordered to pay the former student $1500 (added to $1000 already paid).
