Man guilty over AI deepfake nude images of schoolgirls

A former software developer who sent deepfake nude or sexualised images of schoolgirls and women to their schools has been found guilty of 17 criminal offences.

Antonio Rotondo faced Brisbane District Court on Tuesday to hear the jury's verdict following a six-day trial.

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".

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.