A Hamilton woman charged with blackmail, met her victim on a dating website.

A Hamilton woman who extorted money from her sugar daddy by threatening to release explicit footage of their rendezvous has pleaded guilty to a charge of blackmail.

Amy Simeon-Smith was convicted and sentenced to community work at the Hamilton District Court on Thursday.

The 25-year-old met her victim, described as a wealthy local businessman, on the dating website seekingarrangement.com in December 2015. The website is described as "matching sugar daddies to sugar babies".

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On December 7, 2015, the pair met up at the Novotel Hotel in Alma Street, Hamilton.

They talked through the details of their arrangement and it was agreed that Simeon-Smith would get $400 a week during the course of the relationship.

After the conversation, the pair had sex.

Simeon-Smith's lawyer Michael McIvor said in court that this is where the arrangement turned sour, adding that businessman had previously given his client around $800 for car tyres.

Simeon-Smith left the hotel without being paid and then received a text from the businessman stating that the arrangement was off.

"It was not part of the initial arrangement, but she felt pressured into sex as the only way to get herself out of debt," McIvor said.

"[My client] felt she was taken advantage of and wondered whether [she] would be paid."

Simeon-Smith told her victim that she would show a recording of their Novotel tryst to his work colleagues if he did not pay her $500.

Simeon-Smith and the victim communicated by online messaging app WhatsApp.

According to the court summary of facts, the businessman deposited the $500 demanded into Simeon-Smith's account the next day in fear she would show the intimate recordings to his colleagues, as she had threatened.

He received another message from her on December 14 to say that if he did not apologise, she would release the intimate video to his work colleagues.

Soon after, the businessman laid a complaint with police and the incident was investigated.

When Simeon-Smith was interviewed by police, she admitted there was no recording and she felt taken advantage of.

The victim was not in court on Friday and he was not identified by name.

The Crown prosecutor said the victim was quite concerned for his reputation.

"The victim sought love online and the defendant played on this ... she made threats and took advantage," the prosecutor said.

"There was an element of premeditation ... the victim was fearful and scared of [the recording] being made public.

"He was eating junk food and gained a great amount of weight and describes himself as being vulnerable."

However, McIvor said he found that hard to believe.

"I understand through a friend that he's still on the website, so I would suggest that the victim impact statement isn't as severe as my friend suggests," McIvor said.

"The whole purpose of this website is to ask for money."

The Crown suggested a prison sentence as a deterrent.

"The aggravating features of the offending [was that] an intimate recording was suggested and photos released for the demand of money," the prosecutor said.

McIvor disagreed and said his client's offending was on the lower end of the scale.

He detailed previous cases of blackmail that involved $20,000 to $30,000, where the outcomes were community service and not prison.

"My client made an early guilty admission and has agreed to repay the $500."

Judge Rosemary Riddell said blackmail was regarded seriously by the court.

She took into account the early guilty plea and the consequences of having a blackmail conviction.

Simeon-Smith was sentenced to 90 hours of community work and ordered to repay the $500, which would be paid at $10 per week.

The victim declined an offer of restorative justice.