young woman charged with distributing a 'sex tape' involving retired AFL star Dane Swan was sent a text message threatening her unless she took down the footage.

Georgia May Gibson, 20, was charged by Victoria Police on Tuesday after allegedly sharing video of a nude romp between a woman and the footy champion without his consent.

Gibson, originally from Meadows, in South Australia, was charged with one count of distributing an intimate image and also visually capturing genitalia.

A relative of Gibson has now claimed that after allegedly posting the video of Swan, 34, on social media the young nanny received a text message threatening that if she did not delete it they would 'take you down with me', the Herald Sun reports.

It is understood Gibson initially posted the video to Snapchat, before it was shared across various other social media platforms.

At the time of the video's release in May this year, Swan said in a statement that the video had been 'taken a long time ago' and dubbed it a 'gross breach of privacy'.

Gibson, who until recently was a committee member with a local football club, did not respond to questions put to her by Daily Mail Australia this week.

A relative speaking on behalf of the young woman said she had been greatly affected by the saga.

'It's hard to see her go through this but there's nothing we can do about it... we are just taking it as it comes,' the relative said.

'I've been worried about her since day one.

'We all make mistakes... we are hoping she doesn't go to jail for this.'

The threatening text message sent to Gibson has since been handed to her lawyer.

Friends from her tiny hometown of 1,600 people told Daily Mail Australia she was a 'lovely kid' who had overcome family tragedy to be a very active member of the local community.

Gibson will face Melbourne Magistrate's Court on December 10 and if convicted could face a maximum of two years behind bars.

Locals said they were shocked to hear about her alleged involvement and revealed she had struggled in recent years to overcome the death of her mother.

But despite her hardships she continued to be a prominent community member and was a volunteer at the local football club until this year.

'Georgia had a really tough time as a kid (losing her mum) but she was a lovely kid at heart,' said one local, who did not want to be named.

'She would do anything for anyone - she was raising money for cancer, making little cakes and selling them, she was involved in the footy club.

'We're a tight-knit community and in small communities we protect each other.

'Don't get me wrong, nobody agrees with what allegedly happened, but I think they understand she's not a bad person after all she went through.'

It's understood that Gibson and her father both moved from the Meadows area in the past 12 months.

The young woman was charged this week after a four-month police investigation.

Officers were reportedly approached by Swan in May after footage began circulating on social media, with the Collingwood premiership player begging them to use their powers to take it down.

Police will allege Gibson posted the six-second video showing a nude Swan and the woman kissing in a bed, without the footballer's consent.

Swan, who has been in a relationship with girlfriend Taylor Wilson since 2010, hit out at the release of the video without his permission.

'I have recently become aware of a video of me being published and circulated on the internet,' he said in a statement read out by Collingwood president Eddie McGuire at the time of the video's rapid spread across social media.

'Contrary to some media reports, the video is not a 'sex tape'.

'Although the video was taken a long time ago, it has been posted and distributed only recently.

'It was taken and distributed without my consent. The distribution is a gross breach of my privacy.'

Following the spread of the video on social media, Swan reportedly contacted users sharing the footage and warned he would take legal action unless it was removed.

Over his 13-year career Swan cemented himself as an AFL great, winning both a Brownlow and premiership medal as part of Collingwood's superstar 2011 team.

But it was his off-field efforts that equally endeared him to the public, as the leader of a group of close to a dozen party-loving teammates known as the 'Ratpack'.

At its peak the so-called 'ratpack' included star players such as Swan, Dale Thomas, Ben Johnson, Rhys and Heath Shaw, Chris Tarrant and Sharrod Wellingham.

However the troubles the group caused led to many of them being moved on from the club on the arrival of their former teammate Nathan Buckley as coach in 2012.

Throughout his career Swan himself was involved in a number of incidents, charged with assaulting a security guard outside a bar in 2003. He and three others settled on a $100,000 payout to the victim.

In 2012 he was also given a ban by Collingwood for breaking team rules after being caught drinking late in the season.