MELBOURNE (AFP) - An Australian woman who cyber-stalked an American Idol contestant was jailed Thursday for 26 months.

Tanya Maree Quattrocchi pleaded guilty to stalking 2004 American Idol runner-up Diana DeGarmo by hacking into her My Space account and hijacking email accounts belonging to the singer, national news agency AAP reported.

Victorian County Court judge Lisa Hannan described Quattrocchi's offences as serious and said she had no option but to send her to jail.

"It is important that you understand the fact you perpetrated your offending using cyberspace does not diminish its significance," Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper quoted Hannan as saying.

She said the victims of such crimes had no doors to lock or alarms to activate, adding: "They are constantly vulnerable."

The court heard that Quattrocchi, 23, had recently been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.

It was told that she sent emails purporting to be from DeGarmo, the singer's mother and her colleagues, some of which contained explicit fictional accounts of DeGarmo's sex life.

DeGarmo was runner-up in the third series of the reality television show in 2004, and has since released an album titled "Blue Skies".

She has also appeared on Broadway in a production of "Hairspray".