Sydney woman reveals devastating impact of deepfake porn betrayal

A Sydney teacher has shared how her life was turned upside down by photographs posted online. Warning: Graphic content

Warning: Graphic content

“I want to hide in her house and wait until she is alone, grab her from behind and … feel her struggle.”

This was just one of the threats directed at 35-year-old Hannah Grundy after deepfake pornographic pictures of her were posted online.

The 35-year-old Sydney school teacher spoke to the BBC in a new interview, where she revealed her shock at uncovering a huge betrayal by her friend and the fear she lived in due to the fake images.

“You immediately feel unsafe,” Hannah said.

Hannah said she had discovered the images when a link was sent to her email along with a warning about her pictures being used on the website.

She and her partner Kris, who she’d asked to open the link as she watched, discovered pages of fake photos of Hannah’s face superimposed on pornographic images, as well as detailed rape fantasies and violent threats.

“You’re tied up in them,” she recollected of finding the images. “You look afraid. You’ve got tears in your eyes. You’re in a cage.”

At the top of the page was a poll where people were voting on their preferred way to rape Hannah. Her full name, Instagram handle, the suburb she lived in and her phone number were also posted.

Kris also found images of their close friends, as well as with pictures depicting at least 60 other women. Many of them were also from Sydney.

One friend was Rachel McGinty and another was Jessica Stuart, who had both worked at a university bar with Hannah and Kris.

Hannah Grundy was one of 26 victims whose images were shared in a vile online forum by Sydney bartender Andrew Hayler. Picture: Eliza Barr

Determined to find out who was behind it all, they spent hours identifying the other women and looking for a common link. They realised the images had been taken from the women's' private social media accounts, so someone they knew was behind it all.

Eventually, they’d narrowed their list of potential suspects to one: Andrew (Andy) Hayler, a close friend from university.

“It became more and more obvious that it was our friend Andy,” Hannah told Australian Story last October.

Andy was a supervisor at Manning Bar when Hannah started there as a student.

“I thought of him as a very good friend,” said Hannah.

“It was so shocking because Andy was someone we trusted so much. He’s been to our house. We’ve been on holidays with him.

“A lot of the big moments of our lives over the past 10 years have been with him there.

“I felt very betrayed. How can you trust anyone when you’ve known someone for 10 years and they can say stuff like that about you online?”

The next day when Hannah reported it to police, she claimed she was met with disdain.

She told the BBC that police officers said she should ask Andy to stop, and pointed to a photograph of her in a skimpy outfit while allegedly saying: “You look cute in this one”.

Hannah said the way police handled the situation made her lose faith in them, as she claims she was made to feel like she was “making a big deal out of nothing”.

“And for me, it felt quite life-changing,” Hannah told the BBC.

New South Wales Police declined to comment to the BBC about Hannah’s case.

There were many digitally edited photos of Hannah posted. Picture: Supplied

Then she turned to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, which only helped in having the content removed as it’s a regulatory body

Next, Hannah and Kris approached criminal lawyer Sidnie Sarang, who started to build a case against Andy. He continued to post sexual images of Hannah online.

The couple distanced themselves from their friendship group as tipping Andy off that they knew about his heinous crimes would have jeopardised the case.

“The world for you just gets smaller. You don’t speak to people. You don’t really go out,” Hannah said.

The couple installed cameras all around their house and set up location tracking on Hannah’s devices.

“I stopped having the windows open because I was scared … maybe someone would come in,” Hannah explained of her fear at the time.

“We slept with a knife in both of our bedside tables because we just thought: ‘What if?’”

Hannah said that one of her main concerns is that all of her favourite memories will always be tainted.

“You post things on Facebook and Instagram because they’re the happiest moments of your life. You get a dog, you buy a house, you get engaged and you post a photo.

“He had turned every single one of those moments for us into porn. And so when you see that photo … well, now I see myself getting raped.”

And the fight hasn’t been cheap – all up, they spent over $20,000 in a bid to protect themselves.

Hannah, Kris and Andy (right) met while working at Sydney University's campus bar.

About five months after Hannah reported the website, she claims the police called and said there was nowhere else for the case to go. Next, the couple approached a private investigator who prepared a report into the evidence the couple had found.

The report was sent to police who now had the evidence they needed to raid Andy’s home.

Andy gave over his passwords and police were able to charge him.

Hannah was now able to inform her friends.

“My stomach just dropped,” Jessica Stuart said of learning what Andy had done to her images.

“I felt really violated but … I don’t think I fully comprehended.”

It was 2022 when Andy was arrested, and under Australian law there was no offence for creating or sharing deepfake pornography at the time.

Andrew Thomas Hayler pleaded guilty to 28 counts of using a carriage service to cause offence involving 26 women between July 2020 and August 2022, including his close friends, former housemates and colleagues.

Andy apologised, saying: “I have really done a terrible thing and I am so very sorry”.

In a landmark decision, he was sentenced to nine years in jail. He has appealed.

Rachel McGinty was another victim. Picture: Australian Story

Police response

When contacted by news.com.au, NSW Police provided a statement about the arrest of Andy, stating that officers acted straight away upon receiving a report in 2022 that sexual deepfake images of a woman were being spread online.

“Inner West Police Area Command detectives immediately commenced an investigation into the incident,” the NSW Police said.

“During the investigation detectives identified that the online user who originally targeted the woman was creating deepfake images of several other women and sharing them online.

“Following extensive investigations, detectives arrested a 39-year-old man at a home on Sydney Park Road, Erskineville, about 9am Thursday 25 August 2022, before taking him to Newtown Police Station.

“The man was charged with 81 charges relating to distributing intimate images without consent and harassing, menacing or offending people online and put before the courts.

“He has since been dealt with by the courts.”

NSW Police said it constantly works to deal with AI-based threats.

“The NSW Police Force along with law enforcement partners around the world are facing a number of challenges as AI is increasingly used to facilitate offensive and coercive crimes both in Australia and internationally,” the NSW Police said.

“One of the most alarming trends police are seeing is the increase in generative AI being used to create child abuse material and deepfake sexual material both of strangers and people known to the offender.”

In September 2024, the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) was amended to introduce offences that specifically address “revenge porn” – these crimes cross into the sex crimes, domestic violence and cybercrime space.

“For NSW detectives their priority is always to support victims whose images have been used in these materials and to take down the offensive material and to prevent any further criminality occurring.

“This is a resource and time intensive process due to the nature of AI; however, it can result in victims of child abuse, sexual abuse and domestic violence being able to escape those situations and their abusers being held accountable for their crimes.

“It can also allow police to track down the creators of these materials and hold them accountable or refer them to the relevant law enforcement authority if they aren’t in NSW.”

NSW Police are continuing to be trained in new and emerging trend in the generative AI space “with the goal that every officer across the state can respond to these types of crimes effectively”.

Originally published as Sydney woman reveals devastating impact of deepfake porn betrayal