Australian woman tells court about consequences of sexual deepfakes — ABC News Australia

In South Australia, a 19-year-old victim told a court that sexually explicit deepfake images and videos featuring her that were distributed online had painfully real consequences for her, despite being fake. The hearing was reported by ABC News Australia.

She said she had felt ashamed for a long time over something that was not her fault. The woman stressed that the falsity of the images does not reduce the harm they caused.

Case circumstances

Twenty-year-old William Hamish Yates of Netherby appeared before the District Court of South Australia at a sentencing hearing. Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to two counts of creating or altering sexual material without consent.

The offences took place from October 2024 to February 2025 and involved the creation of sexually explicit deepfake images and videos of the victim, which Yates distributed online. He became the first person in Australia to be charged under federal laws adopted in 2024 to combat the spread of pornographic deepfakes.

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The victim also said she first saw her graduation photo on a pornographic website alongside manipulated videos to which her full name and the name of her school had been added. She described discovering these acts as the darkest period of her life, but said she would not let this define her future.

Positions of the parties

Yates read an apology to the victim, calling his actions disgusting and the harm caused unintentional. His lawyer, Jane Powell, told the court that a psychologist had diagnosed him with autism spectrum disorder, while another report mentioned compulsive sexual behaviour disorder. According to her, he had developed an obsessive interest in the victim.

The defence also said that Yates participated in communities on the social network X, where sharing nude images of women was commonplace, and that this influenced his perception of the acceptability of such actions. The prosecutor objected to the request not to impose imprisonment, describing the conduct as serious and insidious. In her view, the punishment should deter others, including young men, from committing similar offences. Yates faces up to seven years in prison; sentencing is due to be announced next month.