Man guilty over AI deepfake nude images of schoolgirls

The jury found Rotondo had committed stalking and child exploitation material offences by emailing the AI-rendered images to the schools where the women and girls worked or had attended as students.

The 56-year-old had pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of stalking and five counts of distributing intimate images.

He also pleaded not guilty to distributing child exploitation material involving an image of a 13-year-old girl modified to be sexually "degrading".

The jury returned their verdicts after deliberating for six hours.

Rotondo, sporting a beard and long hair and dressed in a blue short-sleeved shirt, did not visibly react to the verdicts.

He said "no" when asked if he had anything to say in response to being convicted.

Rotondo represented himself during the trial except for a barrister appointed by the court to cross-examine protected witnesses.

Rotondo collected public images of female staff and students from a prestigious Queensland school and models who had taken part in a fashion show, crown prosecutor Ben Jackson told the jury.

He then modified the images to include nudity or sexualised elements using an artificial intelligence deepfake program.

"Their clothing was partially removed or they were put into revealing lingerie, leaving little to the imagination," Mr Jackson said.

Rotondo emailed the images to the administrators of multiple schools and a fashion event on September 10, 2023.

A senior school staff member depicted in two images was "very distressed" by the email, the jury heard.

"I would expect each (victim) will say they were horrified and particularly concerned about their online safety and their reputation," Mr Jackson told the jury in his opening address.

Rotondo had a previous career in software development but his deepfake technique did not require specialist knowledge, the jury heard.

"It's fun to just press a button and remove their clothes. It's like X-ray vision glasses," Rotondo told police.

Rotondo told officers the spread of deepfakes was unstoppable despite Australia's new laws.

"Every woman on Earth should live in fear of a camera, should live in fear of Facebook," Rotondo said.

"There will be nude images of everyone on the internet."

When asked why he emailed the images, Rotondo said it was for "fun" and he was "that type of person".

Rotondo did not know the woman and girls in the deepfake images, Mr Jackson said.

Most of the victims have not seen the images.

Mr Jackson asked for the sentencing to be adjourned to tomorrow so victims might attend and more material be served on Rotondo.

Rotondo said he would prefer to be sentenced on Tuesday but did not nominate a reason why he would be prejudiced by the delay.

Judge John Allen scheduled Rotondo's sentencing for Wednesday and ordered he remain in custody.