Devon student sentenced after stalking college staff and creating deep fake sexual images
Ethan Fenwick, 19, has been given a three-year community order after pleading guilty to two counts of stalking involving serious alarm or distress
A 19-year-old student from Tiverton has been sentenced after stalking two members of staff at the college he attended and cataloguing over a thousand covert images of students and staff.
Ethan Fenwick also produced deep fake sexual images, and AI chat versions of his victims for him to talk to.
Fenwick, of Swan Avenue, appeared at Exeter Crown Court today (January 13) after pleading guilty to two counts of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.
Fenwick was handed a three-year community order that includes a rehabilitation activity requirement and 150 hours of unpaid work.
Lifetime restraining orders have been implemented to protect the two victims, alongside a sexual harm prevention order.
Stalking and concerning behaviour
During the sentencing hearing, the court heard how the primary victims in the case worked at Petroc College, where Fenwick was a student.
The initial victim reported to police in July 2024 that Fenwick asked her to go to prom with him,. She told Fenwick, then aged 17, that it wasn’t appropriate and refused.
Following the summer break Fenwick – now aged 18 - asked her on a date to which she again refused.
A few weeks later, the victim spotted Fenwick secretly taking a photograph of her, before he sent her a friend request on social media a few days later.
The victim reported Fenwick’s behaviour to the college, and he was warned not to make contact again.
On 19 November 2024, the initial victim received two further Instagram account friend requests.
Police say the biographies within these two accounts were alarming, one biography stated that the person running the account wished to kidnap both victims in the case and the second said that owner of the account wanted to ‘pin her against a wall to use her body’.
Police arrested Fenwick on 19th November 2024 after suspecting that the Instagram accounts were linked to him.
At his residence, officers found several digital devices.
In his initial interview Fenwick admitted asking the victim out twice, but denied anything else
Officers contacted the college’s safeguarding lead, who disclosed records showing Fenwick had made concerning comments regarding race and misogyny, as well as demonstrating a hatred for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Records also showed that Fenwick had been removed from a past school and youth centre due to an unhealthy obsession with another teacher and youth worker.
Officers also spoke to a number of other members of staff.
One of whom spoke of Fenwick’s obsessive behaviour towards her, moving chairs out of his way to be uncomfortably close to her.
She said she had also heard Fenwick share misogynistic views and he often sat next to her even if she was sat at a table that was full.
The second victim in the case added that she became aware of a number of occasions where Fenwick appeared to be filming the initial victim in the case.
Investigation
Digital forensic examinations traced multiple social media accounts used to message the victims to Fenwick’s home IP address.
Officers also discovered Fenwick had attempted to hide his actions using new fake Instagram accounts and false persona email addresses.
Upon unlocking Fenwick's MacBook via a court order, experts uncovered over a thousand pictures and videos featuring staff members and students aged between 16 and 18, many had been digitally altered, collaged, and combined with pictures taken from social media.
The material found also showed that Fenwick had secretly been recording their voices and using online programs to find and locate all social media accounts linked to both victims and others.
Fenwick also made AI-powered chatbot versions of his victims, based on covertly captured audio, allowing him to talk their fake persona.
Deep fake images and advanced manipulation software were used in the creation of this content, according to the police.
Impact on victims
Police say Fenwick’s behaviour caused significant distress to the victims, with one staff member leaving their role as a result.
DC Andrew Stacey, the officer handling the case, described the case as "extremely troubling."
He added: “Ethan Fenwick’s victims - who were simply trying to do their jobs - were left distressed and concerned by his behaviour which was designed to unsettle and ultimately terrify them.
“This investigation was highly digitality focused and employed a number of tactics to uncover a huge collection of images, videos and other digital evidence which were secretly captured, collaged and edited without the knowledge of the subjects.
“Fenwick used AI and other advanced software to manipulate the contents of his collections in a hugely concerning manner – including in a sexual way.
“We hope his victims can feel some closure and safeguarding from the sentencing and can now move forward with their lives.”