Paedophile who used AI to make images of children naked was bailed to a flat near playground

A paedophile who secretly photographed thousands of women and girls and used artificial intelligence to "nudify" some of them has been sentenced to more than two years in prison.

Zafer Dogan, 32, took pictures of unsuspecting adults and children going about their "daily business" without their knowledge or consent, using software to digitally transform the photos into sexually-explicit images.

The case prompted criticism from police and the Crown Prosecution Service, who had repeatedly opposed granting Dogan bail to a flat overlooking a children’s playground, citing the "risk" he posed to the surrounding area.

On Thursday, Dogan, a mechanic, was jailed for two years and four months at Wood Green Crown Court having admitted to various image offences, including making indecent images of children.

The head of Metropolitan Police Sir Mark Rowley attended the hearing during the afternoon.

The court heard that Dogan was arrested on July 16 on suspicion of offences involving indecent images of children.

The defendant “freed himself” from his handcuffs, ran away and discarded his mobile phone into a nearby garden. Dogan was stopped soon after and his device was seized.

Prosecutor Sarah Gabay said that investigators discovered “thousands of images of women and children which seem to have been taken without their consent or their knowledge”.

Ms Gabay said these individuals were “going about their daily business” in the photographs, which included pictures of children on climbing frames.

According to the police, Dogan had taken more than 5,000 images, many of which were from his bedroom window which overlooked a playground.

The court was told that photos of 33 adult women and two children – aged seven and 13 – were “digitally altered” using AI software to create sexualised content.

Dogan was arrested again on August 4 and the following day he was charged and remanded by police.

The defendant appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court on August 6 and accepted all the charges against him.

According to the prosecutor, Dogan has “been on conditional bail throughout these proceedings”.

Dogan gave no comment interviews after both arrests, the court heard.

The court heard victim impact statements from the mothers of Dogan’s two child victims, who have been kept anonymous for legal reasons.

The mother of the 13-year-old victim described feeling as if she had been “punched in the gut” when police officers told her what had happened.

She added: “I’m really worried that my daughter’s photos are online and other paedophiles have them.”

The mother of the seven-year-old victim described feeling “helpless”, adding: “Our lives will never be the same again and I can’t do anything about it all because one man exploited my child.”

Joseph Carr, mitigating, said the defendant “recognises the profound seriousness” of his offending.

He said the defendant had separated from his long-term partner in 2025 and subsequently “spiralled into depression”.

The lawyer said Dogan “fell down the rabbit hole and was unable to find his way out”, but added that there is no excuse for his actions.

The judge described Dogan as a “Jekyll and Hyde” character during the hearing having read multiple character references, which Mr Carr said “speak to positive character”.

Dogan, of Enfield, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of a child which included 900 category C images, 294 category B images and 653 category A images – which are the most severe.

He also admitted possessing extreme pornography, possessing a prohibited image of a child, creating purported intimate images of an adult, obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty and a further two counts of making indecent photographs of a child.

The Met Police said that alongside the CPS, it had opposed Dogan’s bail on three occasions but their attempts were unsuccessful and the offender was allowed to return to his flat.

Detective Chief Inspector Brian Kelleher told the Press Association about the force’s “frustration” at the court’s decision to repeatedly bail Dogan, who had used the AI software to “nudify” images.

The detective said the “whole details” of the case were raised in court, “including the fact that he was being bailed to effectively the area where he had been offending”.

Mr Kelleher said: “The matters at court … went through a series of challenges where the police and CPS opposed bail, opposed his being bailed back to the address, but the courts continued to bail him, and that went through a series of three or four different hearings.”

He went on: “There are certainly frustrations, especially where, like in this case, we identify an offender who’s moved beyond the normal pattern of slightly more passive collecting of material into producing it yourself, and when we then highlight the risk to the court to really try and challenge those systems to put someone into custody.”

Police Constable Natalie Scagliarini, who led the investigation, said: “This is a deeply distressing case. Dogan’s actions were predatory and dangerous. He targeted the most innocent of scenes – children playing or out walking with their parents – and manipulated the photos he took in the most sickening way.

“The nature of his offending has understandably left those who have learned of it feeling unsettled and violated, not knowing when they might be being watched or photographed and for what purpose.”

Subscribe here to get the latest updates from The Independent