Skip to main content
NOPE
High reported severity Criminal Charges

Taiwan court sentences band photographer who used AI face swapping to put at least five female musicians into false sexual images

Taiwan's High Court on 29 October 2026 sentenced a photographer from Taipei's band scene to 11 months in prison, suspended for four years, for using AI deepfake face swapping to turn performance and publicity photos of female musicians into false sexual images that were posted on an X account, according to ETtoday. Prosecutors said that from 2024 he took at least five women's photos from Facebook and Instagram and used an AI synthesis function in Telegram to paste their faces onto nude and sexual images, which a co-defendant posted for public viewing; the women found their faces on the account and reported it to police. In a first-instance ruling reported on 1 June 2026, the Shilin District Court had sentenced him to one year, suspended, for illegally using personal data; the appeal court, also finding three counts, set 11 months, again suspended and with a NT$200,000 payment to the treasury. He admitted the acts and settled with one of the five women. One of them said publicly that she had been harassed with deepfake nude images and that people had been urged to sexually harass her for four years, and that the account disgusted her. The ruling can be appealed. The photographer and the women are not named here.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
2024
Reported
27 January 2026
Event location
Taiwan
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or AbusePsychological Distress
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Privacy · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution established · 4 sources
6 claims: 6 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 5 people

AI system as recorded: An AI face-swap (deepfake) synthesis function used through Telegram on the defendant's phone to put women's faces onto nude and sexual images, according to the indictment as reported; the tool is not otherwise named

What Happened

What happened. According to the Shilin District Prosecutors Office indictment as reported by the Liberty Times in January 2026, a photographer in Taiwan's band scene downloaded front-facing and full-length photos that several women had posted on Facebook or Instagram pages and used an AI synthesis function in Telegram on his phone to paste their faces onto images of nudity and sexual acts. He sent the images through Telegram to a co-defendant, who posted them on an X account for anyone to view. ETtoday reports that, according to the indictment, in January and March 2024 he used AI face swapping on performance or publicity photos of at least five female musicians. Women who found their faces attached to nude images online reported it to the Taipei police women and children's unit. Prosecutors cited the women's statements, a digital forensics report and the seized phone and computer.

The courts. The Shilin District Court convicted him of illegally using personal data, finding that taking women's facial images and making and publishing false sexual images of them without consent seriously infringed their privacy, and sentenced him to one year, suspended for four years, according to TVBS. On appeal the High Court on 29 October 2026 found three counts under Article 41 of the Personal Data Protection Act and set a combined sentence of 11 months, suspended for four years, with a NT$200,000 payment to the treasury, ETtoday reports. He admitted the acts in court and tried to settle with the five women; one settlement was reached. The co-defendant died during the investigation and prosecutors did not charge him.

The women's account. One musician said publicly that, since she began making music and videos, she had been harassed with deepfake nude images, that the account urged people to sexually harass her for four years, that it was full of deepfake images of female musicians and that it was disgusting, Mirror Daily and ETtoday report; she said she hoped the courts would punish the perpetrator.

What is not known. The sources do not name the Telegram tool, say how many images were made or how many people viewed them, or say whether the High Court ruling will be appealed.

Reported harm

Prosecutors said a photographer used AI face swapping to make false sexual images of at least five female musicians that were posted on X, and Taiwanese courts convicted him after he admitted the acts; one woman says people were urged to sexually harass her for four years.

How Harm Occurred

A photographer used an AI face-swap function to paste women musicians' faces from their performance and social-media photos onto nude and sexual images, which were posted on an X account; the women found the images, and one describes years of harassment.

Outcome

Pending

In a first-instance ruling reported by TVBS on 1 June 2026, the Shilin District Court convicted him of illegally using personal data under Article 41 of the Personal Data Protection Act and sentenced him to one year, suspended for four years, with a NT$200,000 payment to the treasury. On appeal the High Court on 29 October 2026 found three counts, imposed sentences of six, five and six months combined to 11 months, again suspended for four years with a NT$200,000 payment; the ruling can be appealed (ETtoday). The co-defendant who ran the X account died during the investigation and was not prosecuted.

What remains unknown

  • Which Telegram AI tool was used and how many images were made.
  • How many people viewed the X account before it was suspended, and whether more women were depicted.
  • Exact dates: ETtoday dates the image-making to January and March 2024, while the Liberty Times says the images were completed in March of the previous year (2025) and posted in April.
  • Whether the High Court ruling will be appealed.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. The Shilin prosecutors' indictment, as reported by the Liberty Times, says the photographer used an AI synthesis function in Telegram on his phone to paste the women's faces onto nude and sexual images, citing a digital forensics report and the seized phone; he admitted the acts, and both the district court and the High Court convicted him over the false sexual images (ETtoday, TVBS). The AI-made images depicted the women and were posted publicly, and the women found them. The Telegram tool is not named and the judgment texts were not read.

6 claims: 6 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported According to the indictment as reported, the photographer took women's photos from Facebook or Instagram and used an AI synthesis function in Telegram on his phone to paste their faces onto images of nudity and sexual acts, which a co-defendant posted on an X account for public viewing.

Causal attribution. Prosecutors' and court account as reported; the defendant admitted the acts.

  • news.ltn.com.tw(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '並使用手機內的Telegram AI合成功能，將被害人的臉部移花接木至上半身全裸、甚至是大腿以上全裸與他人性交的色情影像中。'
  • ettoday.net(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '將多名女樂手以人工智慧深偽（Deepfake）技術，將演出與宣傳照片合成不實性影像，並投稿至社群平台X帳號供散布。'
Reported The images covered at least five female musicians, made from performance or publicity photos; women who found their faces attached to nude images online reported it to police, and prosecutors cited the women's statements, a digital forensics report and seized devices.

Causal attribution. Indictment as reported by two outlets in separate articles; reported.

  • ettoday.net(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '將最少5名女樂手的演出或宣傳照，使用「AI換臉」，製作上半身裸露或與他人性交等不實性影像'
  • news.ltn.com.tw(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '導致多名受害者在網路上驚見自己的臉部竟被接在裸體照上，憤而向北市婦幼警察隊報案求助。' '且有被害女子們的指述、數位鑑識報告及扣案手機、電腦等證據佐證。'
Reported The Shilin District Court convicted him of illegally using personal data, finding that making and publishing false sexual images from women's facial images without consent infringed their privacy and informational self-determination.

Causal attribution. First-instance judgment as reported by TVBS.

  • news.tvbs.com.tw(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '未經當事人同意即合成不實性影像並公開，構成非法利用個人資料罪。' '嚴重侵害被害人隱私權及資訊自主權'
Reported On 29 October 2026 the High Court found three counts under the Personal Data Protection Act and imposed a combined sentence of 11 months, suspended for four years, with a NT$200,000 payment to the treasury; the ruling can be appealed.

Causal attribution. Appeal ruling as reported by ETtoday; the judgment text was not read.

  • ettoday.net(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '高等法院29日改判刑11月，仍給予緩刑4年的自新機會。可上訴。' '分別處有期徒刑6月、5月、6月，定應執行有期徒刑11月。也宣告緩刑4年，並需於本案判決確定後2年內，繳交國庫20萬元緩刑處分金。'
Reported The defendant admitted the acts and tried to settle with the five women; one settlement was reached.

Causal attribution. Court account as reported by ETtoday.

Reported One musician said publicly that she had long been harassed with deepfake nude images and that people had been urged to sexually harass her for four years, that the account was disgusting, and that she hoped the courts would punish the perpetrator.

Causal attribution. One woman's public statement relayed by two outlets; one origin.

  • mirrordaily.news(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '還在X平台呼籲大家性騷擾自己整整4年' '非常噁心'
  • ettoday.net(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    '一名被害人公開表示，自投入音樂創作與拍片後，長期遭Deepfake裸照騷擾，甚至被惡意號召性騷擾長達4年，希望司法能制裁加害者。'

Sources

4 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Traditional Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. ETtoday reports the High Court ruling and summarises the indictment. Applies to s1.

Read in Traditional Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. TVBS reports the first-instance judgment and credits part of its account to ETtoday. Applies to s2.

Read in Traditional Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. The Liberty Times reports the indictment. Applies to s3.

Read in Traditional Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Mirror Daily reports the indictment and relays a victim's public post. Applies to s4.

Event countries: Taiwan. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Taiwan.

The Liberty Times reports that the images were made at the defendant's home in Taipei's Shilin district and that the women reported to the Taipei police; the case was tried by the Shilin District Court and Taiwan's High Court. The sources do not state where each woman lives, so affected-person countries are left empty.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-29: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): prosecutors said a photographer used an AI face-swap function to turn at least five female musicians' photos into false sexual images that were posted on X, and two Taiwanese courts convicted him after he admitted the acts; the High Court sentenced him on 29 October 2026. One woman describes years of harassment. No person is named.

People described

At least five women musicians in Taiwan's band scene whose performance, publicity and social-media photos were used to make false sexual images posted on X; none is named here.

People reported harmed in this case

At least 5 people

0 AI participants · 5 other people harmed

ETtoday reports the indictment as covering at least five female musicians (最少5名女樂手) and TVBS reports five women discovering their faces; the court found three counts and the defendant tried to settle with five women. Five is a documented minimum; other women whose images may have been posted on the account are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#ai-face-swap#deepfake-sexual-images#nonconsensual-intimate-imagery#musicians#appeal-ruling#personal-data-protection-act#taiwan

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Taiwan court sentences band photographer who used AI face swapping to put at least five female musicians into false sexual images. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2024-taiwan-band-photographer-used-ai-face-swap-to-make-sexual-images-of-female-musicians-sentenced-on-appeal

BibTeX

@misc{2024_taiwan_band_photographer_used_ai_face_swap_to_make_sexual_images_of_female_musicians_sentenced_on_appeal,
  title = {Taiwan court sentences band photographer who used AI face swapping to put at least five female musicians into false sexual images},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2024-taiwan-band-photographer-used-ai-face-swap-to-make-sexual-images-of-female-musicians-sentenced-on-appeal}
}

Related cases

Medium Unidentified image tool

Cookeville, Tennessee: two high-school students were charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor after the sheriff's office said they used an AI program to turn photographs, including those of female classmates, into sexually explicit images and posted them; the mother of one depicted girl says her daughter shut herself in her room and stopped talking to friends

On 31 August 2026 the Putnam County Sheriff's Office was told of possible sharing of sexually explicit images at Cookeville High School. Detectives found that two male teenage students had used an artificial-intelligence program to turn photographs obtained online, in some cases photographs of fellow female students, into sexually explicit images, and had shared them; explicit images already stored on one phone were also shared. Both juveniles were taken to the Putnam County Juvenile Detention Center. One was charged with one count each of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, the other with two counts of each. The district attorney told NewsChannel 5 on 21 September that the two would be prosecuted in juvenile court. The mother of one of the depicted girls told the station the episode was very hard on her daughter, who had made no naked photographs herself, locked herself in her room and would not talk to her, to anybody or to her friends. The sheriff's-office account and the school system's statement were carried by WZTV, WSMV and 3B Media News on 1-2 September; NewsChannel 5 added its own interviews with the sheriff, the district attorney and the mother on 21 September. The tool is not named. The juveniles are not named in any report.

Medium Unidentified image tool

Woman says a classmate sent an AI-undressed image of her to his contacts; he says his account was hacked, and police refused a case pending an examination

A 23-year-old woman told the news site Kaktus.media that in July 2026 she learned that acquaintances had received a nude image of her made with AI from her photograph, and that the sender was a classmate. She says he first told her an app had generated and sent the image by itself, then admitted that he had undressed her Instagram photo through AI himself. In a written statement to the outlet the accused says he used a Telegram bot offering AI photo processing in May or June 2022 and was shocked by the result, and that the images were sent from his Telegram account on the night of 11 to 12 July 2026 by people who had hacked it. The woman says she suffered severe psychological stress and harm to her reputation. She filed a complaint with a district police department on 21 July; after she complained to the prosecutor's office the matter moved to another district department. That department told Kaktus.media that, because the review period expired before expert results arrived, it had refused to open a criminal case and had ordered a new examination. Her lawyer says four motions filed on 5 August have gone unanswered.

High Unidentified image tool

Seoul: doctoral student sentenced to 18 months for 1,141 AI-manipulated sexual images of seven laboratory colleagues

On 10 September 2026 the Seoul Northern District Court sentenced a 30-year-old Chinese national doctoral student to 18 months in prison for habitually producing manipulated sexual images of seven women who worked in his university research laboratory. Investigators found 1,141 files made over about six months from November 2025, and search records for ways to bypass the safeguards of the generative AI Grok; the court found no evidence of distribution. A lawyer for five of the victims said they continued to suffer fear, trauma and distress. Prosecutors had sought three years and public disclosure of his identity, which the court declined.

High Unidentified image tool

Pennsylvania man sentenced to prison in a case where prosecutors and court documents say he made AI deepfake nude images of a teenage neighbor

A Bucks County, Pennsylvania, judge sentenced a man to state prison on 14 October 2026 after he pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse material and theft charges. According to court documents and prosecutors, detectives who began investigating him in June 2025 found AI-generated deepfake nude images of a teenage girl he knew, a neighbor, on his devices; her face had been placed on other bodies. The day after the arrest he was recorded entering her family's home and stealing her underwear. Her father described the family's distress in court, and the Inquirer reports that she is struggling at school, taking antidepressants and in therapy. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports a sentence of seven to 10 years. The Bucks County Courier Times gave seven to 12 years in its first report and seven to 20 years after republishing it to update the sentence length. Neither report names the AI tool.

If you or someone you know is struggling, free and confidential support is available. Find a helpline near you at Signpost.

Back to all incidents