Australian teen convicted under deepfake pornography law
An Australian teenager pleaded guilty to creating and distributing sexually explicit deepfake images of a female victim without consent using multiple social media accounts. Yeates became the first person prosecuted under Australia's 2024 federal law criminalizing deepfake pornography, which experts say has increased dramatically online and overwhelmingly targets women and girls.
What happened
William Hamish Yeates, 19, pleaded guilty on 15 April 2026 to four counts of creating and distributing sexually explicit deepfake images without consent. Between 19 September 2024 and 25 December 2025, Yeates used multiple X (formerly Twitter) accounts to distribute manipulated images purporting to be of his victim's breasts.
Reported impact
The victim had her sexual image created and distributed without consent across multiple social media accounts. Yeates became the first person prosecuted under Australia's new national law criminalizing deepfake pornography, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.
Index analysis
Experts note that deepfake pornography, often created using artificial intelligence and overwhelming targeting women and girls, represents the new frontier of gendered, image-based abuse and school bullying. The eSafety Commission reported that explicit deepfakes have increased on the internet as much as 550% year on year since 2019.
Governance controls
Australia introduced a federal offence criminalizing deepfake pornography in 2024, followed by South Australia passing similar laws in late 2025. Yeates was the first person charged and convicted under these new offences.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.