London Man Jailed for AI-Altered Child Images as Bail Decisions Draw Criticism

Zafer Dogan, 32, has been sentenced to two years and four months in prison after using artificial intelligence to produce indecent images of children from pictures he had taken covertly. He was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court in London after admitting a series of offences involving indecent images of children and other illegal material. At Highbury Magistrates' Court on August 6, Dogan pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of a child. The offences concerned 653 Category A images, the most serious class, along with 294 Category B images and 900 Category C images. He also admitted two further counts of making indecent photographs of a child, possession of extreme pornography, possession of a prohibited image of a child, creating purported intimate images of an adult, and obstructing a police officer in the execution of duty. According to police, Dogan took more than 5,000 photographs, including pictures of girls playing outside, travelling to and from school, and walking alongside their parents. He also followed women in the area and photographed them without their knowledge. Investigators said he then used AI software to digitally remove clothing from some of the images. Police found manipulated images involving 33 women and two girls, aged seven and 13. Dogan was arrested on July 16 after throwing his phone into a neighbour's garden. The device was later retrieved with the help of police dogs. On the phone, investigators discovered roughly 1,800 indecent images of children, along with extreme pornographic material, some of which involved bestiality. Police said many people shown in the material have not been identified and asked anyone who might have seen Dogan recording or photographing people to contact authorities. The case also generated criticism over decisions to grant Dogan bail before sentencing. Although prosecutors opposed his release, Dogan received bail on several occasions and was allowed to return to his flat in Enfield, north London. Police said he had taken many of the photographs from a bedroom window that looked out on an area where children spent time. One family affected by his offences eventually moved into temporary accommodation because of concerns about continuing to live near him. The mother of the 13-year-old told the court the experience made her feel as if she had been 'punched in the gut.' She said they felt like they were 'on the run,' even though they were not the sexual offenders, and that Dogan was living the same life while their lives had been changed forever. She asked how a court could put him back 'so close to his victims.' In a statement read by prosecutor Sarah Gabay, the mother of the seven-year-old said she had also been desperately trying to move to protect her daughter. She said it did not seem fair that because he was a paedophile and chose to exploit her daughter, her daughter, a victim, had to change everything. She asked how that was fair and said her daughter had done nothing wrong. London Victims Commissioner Andrea Simon criticised how Dogan's bail had been handled, saying the victims and their families had been grossly failed. She said police and prosecutors had opposed bail several times, but Dogan was still returned to the community, raising concerns about whether pressures on the justice system were being properly balanced against victims' safety. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley also described the decision to release Dogan on bail near his victims as unfathomable. Rowley said a victim and their family found themselves living close to a man who had admitted targeting them. They were so fearful that they ultimately felt forced to move to distant temporary accommodation, upending their own lives and their children's lives just to escape being near the offender, he said. Rowley also called on artificial intelligence companies to strengthen safeguards to prevent their technology from being used to enable sexual abuse or the production of abusive material. A government spokesperson described Dogan's offences as awful crimes and said bail decisions should take into account the need to protect victims, witnesses and the public. The spokesperson also pointed to legislation targeting AI tools designed to produce child sexual abuse images and websites used to distribute such material. During sentencing, the judge described the images found in Dogan's possession as chilling, saying his victims had been going about everyday lives when he secretly photographed them. The judge said none of them knew he had taken the pictures secretly, evidently for sexual gratification. The judge rejected any possibility of suspending Dogan's prison sentence, saying doing so would amount to a total dereliction of his public duty. Dogan's lawyer, Joseph Carr, apologised to the victims and their families on his behalf and told the court that Dogan was remorseful. The defence said the images created with AI had never been distributed. Dogan's relatives have been told to vacate the house they have occupied for roughly three decades, and they are expected to leave. Metropolitan Police Constable Natalie Scagliarini described the case as deeply distressing and Dogan's behaviour as predatory and dangerous, while thanking those affected for cooperating with the investigation.