A stalker who used a 'cougar' dating site to have affairs with five married men while she was 'on a break' from her husband was spared jail because she just 'wanted to be loved'.

Sarah Lewis, 49, 'preyed' on men using an Ashley Madison-style adultery website before meeting them in hotel rooms for sex.

On one occasion she cried rape and on another she pretended she had become pregnant while also claiming to have caught an STI.

Another victim was so distressed he was close to suicide after Lewis threatened to show his wife a naked picture of him.

Pictured above: Stalker mother Sarah Lewis and husband Andrew relaxing in a Jacuzzi

Sarah Lewis, 49, 'preyed' on men using an Ashley Madison-style adultery website before meeting them in hotel rooms for sex

She also told one man's 12-year-old daughter her father was a 'sex pest.'

One firefighter she had sex with was forced to leave his dream job after she threatened to sent intimate photos of him in his uniform to his boss.

Lewis, of Worcester, admitted five counts of harassment by stalking and one count of disclosing private sexual photographs or 'revenge porn'.

But a judge refused to jail her after hearing Lewis targeted the men because she 'wanted to be loved' and had 'low self-esteem.'

Instead, she was sentenced to 21 months in prison, suspended for two years and ordered to complete 15 days of a rehabilitation activity requirement.

Lewis - who was 'on a break' from her husband at the time - was also given a two-year mental health treatment order.

At her sentencing hearing, Judge Nicholas Cartwright told her: 'Your behaviour could be described as unpleasant, predatory and threatening.

'You used a man's 12-year-old daughter as a pawn in this process, telling her that her dad was a sex pest.

'You did that in order to get at him.

'In relation to the impact on the victims it was profound in each case.

'One man became depressed and suicidal. His family has been broken up.'

Lewis admitted five counts of harassment by stalking and one count of disclosing private sexual photographs or 'revenge porn'

Judge Cartwright also imposed a restraining order in relation to the 11 victims affected by Lewis, including the men, their wives, and a child which will last for ten years.

The court heard Lewis already had two previous convictions for harassment in 2002 and 2003 and another of sending an article which was grossly offensive or indecent in 2014.

This placed her in breach of a conditional discharge which she also admitted.

Prosecutor Michael Aspinall said Lewis got in contact with the first man via a website for people seeking extra marital affairs, meeting him for sex in a hotel in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Lewis made contact with men using the Saucy Dating contact site, pictured, among others

In July she threatened to tell the man's wife about the affair and he received messages which appeared to be from the Lewis' friends but were really from her.

Mr Aspinall said the man was 'pressurised' into meet her at a hotel in Lichfield, Staffordshire, on July 23 but the next morning found her photographing his car and threatening to play her 'ace card'.

The man's 12-year-old daughter found messages from Lewis on his mobile phone and she told her to stay away from her father.

But Lewis replied to the girl saying 'your dad is a sex pest'.

Mr Aspinall said the man 'contemplated suicide by walking onto some train tracks'.

On August 15 Lewis sent intimate pictures of the man to his wife and also set up an online profile using the same photos, calling him a rapist.

Lewis harassed another married man last December into January this year, branding him a 'disgusting father' and threatening to disclose intimate details about him.

Last December she had sex with a different man at her flat, claiming she felt sick afterwards before threatening to tell people he had raped her.

Mr Aspinall said: 'She said "if you leave, I'm going to tell them you raped me".'

The man blocked her number and she immediately called him back on another number, demanding he unblock her and calling him a 'rapist psycho'.

In January, under the name of Scarlet, she also threatened to share intimate photos of a fireman in his uniform with his boss.

The man pleaded with her not to, knowing he would be immediately dismissed.

Lewis, of Worcester, admitted five counts of harassment by stalking and one count of disclosing private sexual photographs or 'revenge porn' (pictured)

Even though they never met, Lewis also falsely claimed he had touched her daughter's bottom at a fete.

Lewis contacted the fifth man's wife claiming she was pregnant and that he had given her a sexually transmitted disease, as well as saying she wanted his pension.

Some of the offences were also committed on bail and she used 'multiple identities'.

Belinda Ariss, defending, said: 'She is deeply ashamed and sorry for the harassment she caused to these men and their families.

'She has had, for many years, low self-esteem and simply wanted to be loved.'

Speaking from the family's £250,000 home in Long Meadow, Worcester, she said: 'I have got to keep a lookout for any people who are going to bully me over this.'

Speaking about one of the men she stalked, Lewis added: 'One was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Reservists.

'He told me he was living a single life and wasn't married and he was married.

'They (the five men) all said they were single, all on national dating websites and all said they were single.

'None of them are young. None of them went to court.

'They all said that because of what's happened to them they needed counselling, they needed this and that and the judge wasn't having any of it.

'I'm just a normal housewife who is going through a very traumatic time and these social networking sites people are not what they say they are.

'I was put into hospital for my own safety.

'I got out on Friday, I learnt a lot but I was put there for my own safety, nothing else.

'I have not spoken to them (the men) for about ten months.

'I had a nice judge, he was very fair to me.

'We (me and my partner) were going through a period of trial separation (at the time of her offending). We were on a break but it's made us stronger than ever. It's got us closer together.

'My experience in prison wasn't bad, I was treated very well in there, especially by the prison officers.'