Seaford man sentenced to 6 months in jail for posting 'deepfake' sexual images of women

Prosecutors say Patrick Carey posted altered pictures of more than a dozen women online.

Krista McNally

Apr 18, 2023, 11:49 AM

Updated 599 days ago

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A Seaford man was sentenced to six months in jail Tuesday for posting "deepfake" sexual images of women online.
Patrick Carey, 22, was found guilty of altering and sharing sexually explicit images of more than a dozen women when they were underage.
Carey was 20 years old at the time when he was charged with posting the photos on a pornographic website.
The victims were all classmates of Carey's at MacArthur High School in Levittown.
According to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, Carey would take the victims' photos from social media and alter them to suggest the girls were engaging in sexual conduct - creating the "deepfake pornography."
Donnelly also says Carey shared their information including home addresses, phone numbers and names - encouraging site visitors to harass the women with sexual violence.
"The depravity on display by this defendant truly makes my skin crawl," said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
The victims went to police and Carey was arrested in September 2021. He pleaded guilty to charges, including aggravated harassment, stalking and endangering the welfare of a child.
One photo Carey shared to the pornographic site was note fake, Donnelly says. She says it was an explicit image of a 14-year-old girl, a crime for which Carey was convicted of a D felony for promotion of sexual performance of a child.
The over a dozen other "fake" images fall into a loophole in the law. As a result, Donnelly drafted the Digital Manipulation Protection Act, which established three new criminal statutes related to the unlawful publication and dissemination of sexually explicit depictions of an individual.
Executive Director of the Crime Victims Center Laura Ahearn tells News 12 that 96% of fake videos and artificial intelligence exploits women.
"They are really harmful to the victims that are being portrayed in sexually inappropriate ways," Ahearn says.
In court, Carey said, "I wish I could take it all back" and "I do not expect forgiveness, I am just sorry."
Fourteen orders of protection were issued for Carey, who was also sentenced to 10 years of probation and is required to register as a sex offender.