Southport man who created hundreds of AI sexual images of children and women jailed
A man who created hundreds of AI-assisted sexual images of children and women left his victims feeling like "a piece of meat" and "unsafe in my own skin".
Karl Marshall, 47, produced and shared the digitally altered pornographic images of children and women - known more commonly as 'deepfakes' - without their knowledge over a number of months.
He used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to replace the face of one person with the face of the real women or children.
In a Victim Impact Statement, read to Liverpool Crown Court, one of the women who Marshall, from Southport, used to create pornographic images said: “Knowing those images of me are out there circulating the internet is so violating.
"It was like I was just a piece of meat he could objectify. After discovering the images I questioned why me? Why had Karl targeted me in such a way?
"I stopped making an effort, stopped wearing makeup and didn’t wear my hair down because maybe just maybe if I hadn’t done that before maybe Karl wouldn’t have looked twice at me and maybe it would prevent it from happening again.
“I’m not the same person I was before. My confidence is low, I question my judgement of others, I worry when a man looks at me for too long and panic that he may have seen the images.
"I’m permanently anxious and on the edge and struggle to sleep all because of Karl’s despicable behaviour.”
A second woman who was targeted in the same way said: “I am a changed person. I don’t trust as I once did. I question has this person or that person seen the images of me?
"Have they been distributing them? I feel unsafe in my own skin. No one touched me yet I feel violated and used. It’s indescribable how dirty and weak you can feel when you have zero control over the situation you find yourself in.”
Marshall was jailed for two years and two months after he admitted making indecent photographs/pseudo-photographs of a child, sharing a photograph or film of a person in an intimate state for the purpose of sexual gratification and voyeurism.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how as part of the complex investigation, between July 2023 and January 2024, Marshall made 266 indecent pseudo-images of children using AI technology.
Detective Sergeant Rory Quigley, who led the investigation, said: “The creation or sharing of digitally altered images is not a victimless crime and in many cases, such as this one, the identities of real women are used to create pornographic content.
“This is absolutely appalling and would undoubtedly cause huge distress and upset for the victims.
“This was a complex investigation but thankfully we were able to produce the evidence that showed that Marshall was guilty of these offences.”
Detective Sergeant Quigley added: “Merseyside Police is completely committed to protecting children from sexual abuse and those who seek to do them harm.
“I would like to take this opportunity to stress that if you have experienced any form of sexual abuse, or know of a child being abused, please come forward and report this to police.
“We take all such reports extremely seriously and if you can find the courage to come forward and speak to us we have specially trained officers who will treat you with sensitivity and compassion.”