Accused deepfaker told police stripping women's clothes digitally was 'like X-ray vision glasses'

Key points

• Antonio Rotondo has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of stalking, five counts of distributing intimate images, and one count of distributing child exploitation material in Brisbane District Court.
• Prosecutors say Rotondo, while living in the Philippines in September 2023, emailed fabricated nude images of current and former female students and staff to two Brisbane private schools.
• Rotondo allegedly told police in a recorded interview that making deepfakes was "just a hobby" and that every woman on earth should "live in fear of a camera".
• He admitted to police that he used an online tool to alter the images, controlled the website where 16 of them were uploaded, and sent the emails himself.

A Brisbane man sitting trial this week allegedly told police that using artificial intelligence to strip the clothes off women in photos was "like X-ray vision glasses." His name is Antonio Rotondo, and he has pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen charges.

The images at the centre of the case are what are known as deepfakes: digitally altered photos made using AI software that can replace a real person's clothing with nudity or lingerie, using nothing more than a publicly available photograph of that person. No physical contact required. No consent asked.

What is Rotondo accused of actually doing?

Prosecutors say he targeted real women and girls, people who had no idea he existed. In September 2023, while living in the Philippines, Rotondo allegedly sent an email containing fabricated intimate images to recipients including two Brisbane private schools. The images depicted current and former female students and staff at one of those schools.

He also allegedly created deepfakes of models who had appeared at Brisbane Fashion Week, sending those images to another woman connected to the event. A further 16 images were uploaded to a website he controlled.

Crown prosecutor Ben Jackson told the jury that Rotondo admitted all of this to police during a recorded interview shortly after he arrived back in Australia in October 2023. He reportedly admitted he was the person behind the email account, controlled the website, and used an online tool to alter the images.

What did he tell police?

Bluntly, quite a lot. According to Jackson, Rotondo told officers the whole thing was "just a hobby" and that he did it because it was "just the type of person" he was.

"I'm at the stage of my life where I really don't care, I think it's funny," he allegedly said.

He also reportedly told police: "Every woman on earth should live in fear of a camera" and "you cannot stop deepfakes." His comparison to X-ray vision glasses, widely reported first by ABC News Australia, sums up how he framed it: a bit of entertainment, pressing a button, nothing serious.

The prosecutor reminded the jury that the women in these images will give their own accounts of how they felt. Jurors, he said, need only decide whether the conduct would cause "someone in normal circumstances some distress."

What should ordinary people take away from this?

This case makes one thing plain: deepfake abuse requires no technical skill and no access to anyone's private accounts. A photo posted publicly, on a school website or a social media profile, is enough.

For parents, teachers, and anyone who manages a public-facing profile for a school or community organisation: review what images of staff and students are publicly posted, and whether that exposure is necessary. Victims of image-based abuse in Australia can contact the eSafety Commissioner for removal support.

The trial continues.

Operational takeaway: the technology to do this is a free web search away, and the only current brake is legal consequence.