Neil Darlington, 51, manipulated images using AI to blackmail individuals he thought were schoolgirls into sending him nude photos, but were actually undercover officers. He received a one-year prison sentence and other penalties for his crimes involving child sexual abuse.
Neil Darlington, aged 51, from Mayer Avenue, Newcastle, has been sentenced to one year in prison for using artificial intelligence to blackmail young girls into sending him nude images. Darlington, who posed as a 16-year-old boy, engaged in sexually explicit online conversations with two individuals he believed to be schoolgirls in February. However, these individuals were actually undercover police officers.
When the supposed ‘schoolchildren’ refused his requests for nude images, Darlington used AI technology to manipulate their clothed pictures to appear nude. He then blackmailed them, threatening to disseminate the altered images to their family and friends if they did not comply with his demands for real nude photographs.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court handed Darlington a 12-month prison sentence, a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and required him to register as a sex offender for the same duration. Darlington pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including blackmail, making indecent photographs and pseudo images of children, attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity, and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
During the investigation, police discovered indecent images of children aged between three and 15 on Darlington’s phone, with some of the images showing very young children being sexually abused. Judge Michael Maher noted that Darlington’s actions were particularly egregious due to the manipulation and blackmail aspect, underscoring the severity of his offenses.
