A 19-year-old, William Hamish Yeates, has become the first person charged under a new national law criminalising the manipulation of sexual images, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.
Yeates did not speak as he left court after pleading guilty on Wednesday to four offences. He is due to return for a further hearing in April.
The court heard that Yeates had previously faced 20 Commonwealth charges, but the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) later withdrew some counts after his guilty pleas. He admitted to creating or altering sexual material without consent, distributing it, and using a carriage service in a harassing or offensive manner.
Prosecutors said he shared images of his alleged victim across multiple X accounts without consent. A spokesperson for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed it was the first prosecution of its kind under the new law, although some Australian states already have related legislation targeting deepfake content.
Australia’s online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, has repeatedly warned about the rapid rise of AI-generated sexual imagery and has pushed for stronger measures against apps that “nudify” individuals.
Julie Inman Grant, head of the regulator, previously told parliament that “explicit deepfakes have increased on the internet as much as 550% year on year since 2019,” adding that “pornographic videos make up 98% of the deepfake material currently online and 99% of that imagery is of women and girls.”
Authorities say the case highlights growing concerns about the use of artificial intelligence to create non-consensual sexual imagery, which experts describe as an escalating form of image-based abuse and online harassment, particularly targeting women and girls.
Boluwatife Enome
