Stalker jailed after sending victim AI generated images

A 'despicable and depraved' stalker has been jailed after he sent his victim AI photos of her naked and a bag of his own semen.

Jakob Ward began harassing the woman using an Instagram alias and sending an AI-generated image of her wearing underwear, followed by an AI-generated nude video and a request to meet.

The 28-year-old used the Artificial Intelligence to deliberately impersonate another man but when she asked to be left alone he replied that he had items belonging to her and sent her own What3Words location.

The woman went to the police station, fearing for her safety, and while she was there received another message from the anonymous account saying: “Don’t worry, I’m not a threat.”

A court heard Ward was caught because he also sent her a bag containing his own semen and police were able to trace the DNA back to him.

It was heard that the woman received a package containing intimate AI-generated messages, her own underwear, and the bag containing Ward's semen.

Ward also sent her another package containing her underwear and sex toys.

In a statement read to the court, the victim said the campaign destroyed her sense of safety.

She said: “I was genuinely terrified for my life.

“The thing that frightened me most was the belief that somebody was going to break into my home, rape and kill me.”

After the parcel was discovered on August 3, she said: “I slept with a knife under my pillow. I even gave my sister and my friend instructions about what to do if I killed someone.”

She said the sexual element had been particularly difficult: “I was denied the opportunity to consent. I feel as though I have been sexually assaulted in a way that is very difficult to explain.”

The prosecution said the offending was sophisticated, persistent and sexualised.

Ward, from Tidworth, Wilts, admitted stalking the woman causing serious alarm or distress, creating a purported intimate image of an adult, theft, possessing cannabis and possessing a knuckleduster and was jailed for 32 months.

Sentencing him at Winchester Crown Court, Hants, Judge Christopher Parker KC described the campaign as 'despicable, depraved' and 'completely incomprehensible'.

"For reasons of your own which are difficult to fathom, you chose to target her with the most threatening and frightening actions," he said.

"Your behaviour absolutely maximised the distress and fear of the victim, who had done you no harm."

The court heard that Ward had self-declared mental-health issues and had experienced a difficult childhood.

Judge Parker KC said there was 'a very strong sexual element' to the offending, adding it would be 'wholly inappropriate' to suspend the sentence because Ward had shown no serious remorse and posed a serious risk.

"There is no evidence whatsoever of remorse, regret or upset in the pre-sentence report. You assert the victim in this case has been exaggerating the consequences of your actions. I do not accept that for one moment.”

Ward was made subject to a 10-year restraining order.

The cannabis and knuckleduster will be forfeited and destroyed and a statutory surcharge was imposed.