Ryan Hawkins, 20, of Middleton, sent comments to Clementine Ford, a freelance journalist and prominent feminist.

Ms Ford recently made headlines for her response to a post on Channel 7's Sunrise Facebook page. Sunrise's post suggested females whose nude photographs were hacked and ended up being published on an overseas website were at fault because they took the pictures. It ignored the fact the pictures were stolen.

Mr Ford replied on Facebook by posting a photo of herself with "Hey #Sunrise Get F...ed" written across her chest.

On Monday, June 22, Mr Hawkins sent a message to Ms Ford's Facebook page that threatened to rape and bash Ms Ford and called her "lesbian scum".

Mr Hawkins has since apologised for his actions and said "he was trying to be a smart arse".

Hills Fleurieu Police have said using a carriage service (such as Facebook) to menace, harass or cause offence carries a maximum penalty of three years jail.

Ms Ford shared the message publicly as a screen grab on her Facebook page - which has about 45,000 likes - later on Monday afternoon.

It received dozens of shares and hundreds of comments from other page likers and friends of Mr Hawkins.

"I chose to share it publicly because abusers hide behind the veil of privacy and anonymity," Ms Ford said.

"When women complain about abuse, we're often told we're overreacting or making it up.

"It's important that abusers know they won't be shielded and also that people see the reality of online harassment."

Following the sharing of his post, Mr Hawkins then posted on his Facebook profile that he had been hacked and a friend of his sent the message.

Ms Ford said "Ryan is predictably claiming to have been hacked now, even though he initially said to me that his friend sent it. I don't believe this is true, primarily because it's a routinely offered excuse".

Ms Ford said she didn't feel surprised to receive the comments because it is not the first time she had received a message like it.

"Mostly, it just makes me sad that someone thinks that's okay," she said.

Ms Ford took the message down on Tuesday morning as she felt her point was made and wants to follow up with authorities.

Ms Ford wanted to say the following to Mr Hawkins.

"I would like to say that words have consequences and abuse is not a joke," she said.

"He needs to seriously examine what motivates him to send a message like that to someone else, and why he thinks it's acceptable or funny."

Mr Hawkins said he saw a comment by a friend on his Facebook news feed about Ms Ford and he jumped on the bandwagon of sending a hate message to her.

"I was being a smart arse, just trying to have some sick fun with her, but it didn't really work," he said.

"I said sorry afterwards."

Mr Hawkins said his phone went crazy with friend requests, messages and other notifications after Ms Ford shared his message on her Facebook page.

Panicking about the situation, Mr Hawkins lied on Facebook that night, claiming his phone was hacked. He has since taken ownership of his comments.

Following the events, Mr Hawkins said he has also experienced what it is like to receive cyber bullying.

He said he "thought it was pretty obvious it was an empty threat, but I guess she didn't" and he feels Ms Ford could have messaged him, instead of sharing the message.

Mr Hawkins said he does not condone domestic violence or rape.

He has apologised to Ms Ford for the comments he made.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean what I said. It was a bad joke," he said.

Mr Hawkins said he had learned something from the experience, "everybody should think before they post trolling comments online, as they may receive a bigger response than they intended".

Hills Fleurieu Local Service Area acting officer in charge Inspector Glen Sickerdick said it is an offence to threaten, menace or harass someone, whether in person, through another person or over the phone or internet.

"Police would encourage anyone who is the victim of this type of offending to report it to police so it can be fully investigated," he said.

For tips about cyber safety on social networking sites, search engines and on-line games visit www.acorn.gov.au/protection-prevention

Inspector Sickerdick said the guide has information about protecting yourself from cyber bullying, who you can report cyber bullying to and other useful features, such as explaining information about privacy settings and who has access to social networking sites.

OPINION: Cyber bullies must feel repercussions for their actions

If you are a victim of cyber bulling, contact the following:

Source: Victor Harbor Times