WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT: A 26-year-old man has been jailed after sharing disgusting deepfaked images online – three of his victims have bravely spoken out about the impact these crimes have had on them
A woman has been left feeling “violated and shocked” after a 26-year-old man created deepfake nude images of his victims and shared them online without their knowledge or consent.
Brandon Tyler, of Railway Street, Braintree, Essex had used artificial intelligence (AI) to create a number of fake images, including graphic edits using pictures of women had shared on social media. In total 20 women were horrified to discover images and posts with inappropriate language shared onto an online forum.
Tyler was arrested by officers in May last year after a woman reported an intimate photo of herself had been posted on an online forum without her knowledge or consent. Detectives immediately launched an investigation, and their enquiries revealed several other women’s images, many manipulated or created using deepfake technology, had also been uploaded to the site.
Enquiries lead detectives to a specific user who had made 173 posts between March 2023 and May 2024. Many of the posts contained images which had been taken from the victims’ social media pages and then deepfaked to make the women appear as though they were naked.
Other intimate images uploaded onto the site by the user were not deepfaked, but had been shared without the owners’ knowledge or consent. The user’s account was linked to Tyler and he was arrested. He made no comment during interview, but following the thorough investigation charges were authorised by the CPS.
Tyler was charged with 15 counts of sharing a photograph or film of a person in an intimate state for the purpose of sexual gratification and 18 counts of harassment without violence. He pleaded guilty to all 33 charges when he previously appeared at Colchester Magistrates Court.
Three of his victims have bravely spoken out about the impact these crimes have had on them in their personal and professional lives and thanked Essex Police Officers for their support and understanding.
One woman, whose social media images were deepfaked by the defendant, said: “I knew they were fake, but all I could think was that everyone else would think it was me. It had an immediate detrimental effect on my physical and mental health. I shut myself away from everyone and everything. I didn’t want to go out and I wasn’t sleeping or eating.It was really traumatic at the time and has had a lasting impact.”
Another woman said: “This whole time has been so stressful and upsetting. I was a new mum when I found out that these images had been posted without my permission. I knew all sorts of people, including my boss and other people at work, had seen these images of me and it was a terrible feeling.
“I was suffering from post-natal depression, and this made the depression so much worse, especially when I was getting ready to go back to work. My depression spiralled at that point, knowing I was going to face people who had seen these images. Finding intimate images of myself had been shared without my consent made me feel very violated and shocked.
“I don’t understand what is going on in the mind of someone to do this to women. We must be allowed to post images of ourselves without fearing someone is going to take them and behave like this. The law is there for a reason and hope other people will think twice before doing this sort of thing. It’s so distressing to find yourself a victim in this way.”
A third woman said: “It was so shocking when I found out. I had to tell my family and my boyfriend what had happened. It was so embarrassing. It really affected my ability to trust people, I felt very low and developed a real fear of men. I felt naïve and stupid. It also affected my ability to do my job properly and this impacted me financially.”
“Things have got better as I won’t let someone like this win, but I am more cautious, and I have changed as a result of this. Essex Police’s kindness and patience really helped me through this difficult time. The officer was so understanding and non-judgemental. He made me realise I had done nothing wrong. I won’t let this hold me back. I did lose a lot of weight and my relationship at the time ended under the pressure, but I’m moving forward with my life and am in a good place.”
On Friday, April 4 Judge Alexander Mills said his offending “caused enormous distress” and and there was no greater example of “toxic masculinity”. He sentenced him to a total of five years in prison, he was placed on the sex offenders’ register and given an indefinite restraining order against his victims.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Ben Stammers welcomed the sentence and said: “Tyler has subjected these women to a vile and abhorrent targeted campaign of abuse, purely for his own sexual gratification. The impact has been felt by all 20 of his victims and many are still fearful of the implications for themselves in their professional and personal lives.
“This behaviour was obviously meant to cause these women immense turmoil and distress. Not only were many of their images taken and then manipulated, but Tyler compounded this by adding sexually violent language to his posts. Essex Police are committed to fully investigating this type of criminal behaviour against women and girls. We will use the full force of the legislation available to us to ensure women are safe.
“Our Reflect campaign highlights the dangers of this type of offending and we will continue to prosecute those offenders and also work with partners to educate and prevent.”