A 20-year-old man who used artificial intelligence to create sexually explicit images and videos of a teenage girl using photographs from her social media accounts has avoided immediate jail in Australia's first prosecution under federal deepfake pornography laws.
South Australia's District Court sentenced William Hamish Yeates to two years and three months in prison on 27 October. However, he was released under a three-year recognisance release order, requiring him to be of good behaviour and enter a $500 (£260) bond.
The judge considered Yeates' guilty plea, expressions of remorse, engagement in treatment, absence of previous offending and prospects of rehabilitation when deciding against immediate imprisonment.
Yeates, who was 18 when the offences took place, pleaded guilty to two counts of creating sexual material transmitted without consent, two counts of using a communications service in a harassing or offensive way and one count of using a communications service to make personal data available. The offences took place between October 2024 and February 2025.
Graduation Photo Used on Pornography Website
The court heard Yeates used photographs from the victim's social media accounts to create sexually explicit deepfake images and videos. He shared the material on X, formerly Twitter, and the adult website Ero Me, adding highly offensive captions and comments.
The victim, now 19, told the court that her actual Year 12 graduation photograph appeared on a pornography website alongside altered videos of her bearing her full name and school.
'I want to make it very clear, these images of me were fake but the impact they had is painfully real,' she said in a victim impact statement reported by the ABC.
She described how the abuse had changed the way she viewed a photograph that should have represented a happy milestone. Judge Anne Barnett said the offending had tainted memories that 'were, and should be, happy'.
The victim required ongoing psychological support to process the trauma and manage anxiety caused by the offending. Barnett said she remained frightened that the material could resurface and continue to follow her in the future.
Judge Says Offending Caused Lasting Harm
Judge Barnett said Yeates had developed an obsessive preoccupation with the victim and had come to believe, albeit irrationally, that they were in a relationship.
She said the offending involved using online platforms 'to humiliate, degrade and harass the victim'. The judge also highlighted the seriousness of distributing the material online, where it had the potential to reach a large audience and remain accessible indefinitely. She noted that this type of offending disproportionately targets women and girls.
Why the Judge Spared Him Immediate Jail
Yeates was the first person prosecuted under Australia's federal laws introduced in 2024 to address sexually explicit deepfake material. The offence of creating and sharing deepfake sexual material without consent carries a maximum penalty of up to seven years in prison.
The court was told that Yeates had been diagnosed with Level 2 autism, compulsive sexual behaviour disorder and persistent adjustment disorder following his arrest. Judge Barnett also considered his age, guilty plea, expressions of remorse, engagement in treatment and prospects of rehabilitation.
The court heard that Yeates had participated in online communities where sharing nude images of women was common. Barnett also noted his exposure to online content promoting influencer Andrew Tate, which introduced him to forums and communities where women were routinely objectified and misogynistic views reinforced.
The judge said Yeates' circumstances reduced his culpability to some extent but did not excuse his actions or diminish the harm caused. She also assessed his prospects of rehabilitation as good and his risk of reoffending as low.
'I do not consider that it is appropriate that any portion of that sentence be immediately served,' Barnett said.
Yeates was also ordered to pay the victim's medical expenses and forfeit a phone and laptop seized by police.
