A PAEDOPHILE from Barry who edited pictures of celebrities and used artificial intelligence to turn them into images of young girls being raped has been given a community order – but has avoided a custodial sentence.
Mark Barnfield, 43, of Cadoxton, appeared before Cardiff Magistrates on 27th May, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of making 332 category A images, which are classified as depicting the most severe types of sexual abuse, along with 91 images that fall under category B and 1,014 category C images. All the offences took place between 12th January and 2nd April 2024.
At the same hearing, Barnfield admitted a further charge of possessing four prohibited images of a child between 29th January and 31st March 2024, and he was granted conditional bail as he awaited sentencing.
During the sentencing hearing on 24th June, Cardiff Crown Court heard police officers attended his home on 28th February after intelligence was received regarding indecent images of children.
Not of real children
Prosecutor Abigail Jackson told the court none of the images depicted real children but were created using AI. She said the images were so realistic they were legally categorised as photographs, and that the police initially thought they were genuine.
The children depicted in the AI images were between two and 14 years of age.
Ms Jackson said: “The defendant told officers, ‘I don’t give a f*** when I’m on the computer. It’s my mindset.’
“He said he had created them himself. He told officers he got bored of pornography and started to use AI to create images. The defendant would edit them to look like children from babies to the age of 18.”
Browsing history
Barnfield’s browsing history showed he had been searching for terms including “porn kids incest” and had searched for images of celebrities including actress Emma Stone, after which he used AI to make them appear much younger.
During a police interview, Barnfield told officers he created the images having “got bored of pornography”, but he denied having a sexual interest in children and created the AI images to “train himself not to have such an interest”.
The court was told Barnfield has four previous convictions, none of which are relevant to the current charges.
Representing Barnfield, Andrew Taylor said in mitigation that his client’s mother has multiple sclerosis and if he was sent to prison, her care would be left to his sister, who is in full-time employment.
Mr Taylor said: “This is an unusual case. AI can be both a blessing and a curse. The defendant became obsessed with making his own images. It’s a slippery slope. There were no actual children but this does fuel the interest in young children.
“He’s a sad, lonely and vulnerable individual in his 40s. He’s had sporadic employment and struggles to make meaningful relationships outside his family.
“The defendant was spending more than eight hours a day on the computer – that’s unhealthy for anyone.”
Addressing Barnfield, Judge Daniel Williams said: “As Mr Taylor pointed out, such images can only fuel the interest in the disgusting abuse that is shown in these images.”
Community order
Barnfield was sentenced to a two-year community order, he was given a £500 fine, and he must complete a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement.
Barnfield must register as a sex offender for five years and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, also for five years.
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