Jonathan Le Tocq sentenced to nine years for indecent images

During the hearing, the former deputy looked to his right and down at a stack of papers on the chair in the dock of court one, wiping a tear from his eye when he heard a statement from one of his victims.

Speaking for the prosecution, crown advocate Chris Dunford described the method the pseudo indecent images of children had been created had “never been seen before by this court”.

He said deepfakes of adult females who were naked were not currently illegal, although the States is looking to change that.

“It was the sending of these images which was illegal and they make up the various telecoms offences,” said Dunford.

The images in question were often of local women who Le Tocq knew, superimposed onto naked or semi-naked bodies in various sexual poses.

Dunford said Le Tocq used artificial intelligence to put children’s faces on naked photos and would often add his own face to the sexualised images.

Dunford described how in his first interview with Guernsey Police, Le Tocq told officers how had learned to make deepfake images.

He told them several years ago “an acquaintance” in Brussels, Belgium, had introduced him to how he could create these images.

In his interview, Le Tocq said he did it for the “release” and to provide an “adrenaline high” which would help him with the stress of his jobs as a people’s deputy.

Dunford told the court in his interview with officers, Le Tocq said he was “desperately sorry” and “ashamed” of his “bizarre behaviour”.

Le Tocq told officers this was a “fantasy” which took away his stress and that he was “relieved” when he was discovered.