Topics: Mental Health, Technology, World News, Artificial Intelligence, Crime
A woman has opened up about the long-lasting impact finding deepfake pornography of her online has had.
Kirsty Pellant and two other women ended up getting in contact after one realized there was a fake x-rated profile of herself and the other two women as well.
The trio then managed to work together to figure out which mutual friend they all shared - who was also linked to the fake profiles too - and identify the man behind the horrifying scam.
Pellant received a Valentine's Day card through her door in 2017 and later received a message from a stranger online asking why she didn't show up to their date - she had no idea what the person was on about.
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She revealed to The Times the stranger messaged her saying: "I am guessing you might be inundated with emails from XHamster’s guys."
XHamster is an adult entertainment site that allows content creators to message with users and the stranger told Pellant he'd seen explicit images of her too.
Pellant was left dumbfounded - a 44-year-old school safeguarding officer, she had never even dreamt of setting up a profile on an x-rated site or shared any explicit images of herself. However, a search of her name alongside the word 'porn' seemingly revealed otherwise.
Pellant's search online revealed not just images but seemingly videos of her engaging in sex acts too - deepfakes.
ESafety Commissioner's website explains: "A deepfake is a digital photo, video or sound file of a real person that has been edited to create an extremely realistic but false depiction of them doing or saying something that they did not actually do or say.
"Deepfakes are created using artificial intelligence software that currently draws on a large number of photos or recordings of the person to model and create content."
In Pellant's case, it was deepfake pornography - and she wasn't the only woman targeted by the perpetrator either.
A woman got in touch with Pellant and another victim and the trio managed to hone in on a friend they - and their fake profiles - shared, exposing their Pellant's former colleague Jon Bates as the creator behind the deepfake pornography and reporting him to the police.
Bates - a teacher and former soldier - was ultimately sentenced to five years in prison and handed a ten-year order banning him from contacting any of the women he violated.
Pellant says she was 'traumatized' by having to go through so many x-rated sites to find all of the videos and images of herself to report them and have them removed.
It also left her unable to leave the house alone 'without fear,' her career in a school 'completely tarnish[ed]' too given the sexual nature of the deepfakes.
She reflected: "It was everywhere. It completely tarnishes your reputation and you have no control over it. It has been devastating."
Pellant hopes speaking out about what happened to her raises awareness of the crime and helps others who've experienced similar feel better supported.
She resolved: "I’ll never be the Kirsty I was before this. It changes you. I am trying to turn this into a positive and help others with their trauma."
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 to reach a 24-hour crisis center or you can webchat at 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
