Woman "terrified" after fake images posted on rape and paedophile site by "weird" Southsea pervert
An international paedophile ring was uncovered
A woman whose pictures were posted on a rape site by a “dark and twisted” Southsea pervert that led to an international paedophile ring being brought down said she remains “terrified” of being attacked.
“Weird” Ethan Orchard, 30, of Highland Road, was jailed at Portsmouth Crown Court for three years and four months after he shared doctored intimate images of three women he knew from Fareham College.
One of his victim’s memories of her wedding were tarnished after Orchard posted the manipulated images on the American site that had customers across the world, as previously reported.
US authorities made a number of arrests and have seized more than one million indecent images of children as part of their investigation.
Officers in Hampshire first became aware of the website in January 2024 after a woman reported that images of her from her wedding day, which had been doctored to make her appear either nude or wearing lingerie, had been uploaded to the site.
More than 100 images of the woman had been shared, and were accompanied by comments containing written fantasies about sexually abusing her. Images of two other women were also manipulated before being uploaded to the site - with Orchard encouraging others online to abuse them.
Orchard was arrested and later charged with three counts of sharing a photograph of a person in an intimate state for the purpose of sexual gratification, and one count of encouraging the commission of an either way offence and believing it will be committed.
One of his victims told The News the women befriended “timid” Orchard at college after feeling sorry for him. “He very much struggled with social interaction so me and one other girl made sure he was included and would laugh along with what he said to make him feel like he deserved to be there,” she said.
But the woman confessed there were a number of “red flags” back then with “weird” Orchard “stalking” various college girls after turning up at places they would go after obsessing over their social media.
Orchard’s depravity started to manifest when the victim introduced him to a fiction writing website which proved to be a “big part” of the police investigation. In his story, he included all three women in a “depraved” and “dark and twisted” manner. “Basically it included interspecies rape fantasies of us which were worked into a Doctor Who fiction story,” the woman said.
Suspicion first came on Orchard after it was spotted he used the same username for the fiction writing website as he did on the rape and paedophile site that marketed the sale of child sex abuse material. He had also alerted one of his former friends to her pictures being on the site as if he was trying to help her. “The audacity he had…he can’t have been more stupid,” the victim said.
Images showed the women in various states of undress and wearing lingerie while others were pornographic. The woman, who is a part time model with pictures published online of her work, said all her images from Facebook and Instagram had been used and doctored.
His photo captions, with their names on, were “awful” - with him asking predators using the site: “Would you rape, sell or save them?”
“It’s harrowing. It’s basically a Facebook for predators. The threat is still out there,” the woman said.
“It’s so terrifying. I’ve got friends in Florida so it would be scary to go and see them now. I’ve barely left the house in six weeks because of all this. It’s had a big impact.
“We don’t know who he has spoken to and how many people. The posts of us had a few hundred likes and comments but that’s just the ones bold enough to interact…there will be a lot more who saw it, probably in the thousands.
“We’ve no idea where they are. They could be a thousand miles away or they could be next door. They’ve arrested people in America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK.
Orchard’s former friend also slammed technology companies for not doing enough. “None of the AI firms do much to stop or regulate (doctored images and videos). It’s never going to stop until someone does something. Tech firms, the government and police need to step up,” she said.
Speaking of the impact on her, the former Portsmouth woman said: “I have no trust anymore. You never know what people are capable of until it is too late.”
Despite living while looking over her shoulder all the time, all three victims were pleased with the jail term given to Orchard. “I wasn’t able to be at court but the other girls called me straight after. It was incredible, we were ecstatic. We thought he might only get a temporary restraining order,” the female said.
But she did not think it would deter Orchard in the future despite him having a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and an indefinite restraining order on top of his jail term. “No (I don’t think his behaviour will change). It’s so ingrained and he’s been living this fantasy for so long I think he’s too far gone,” she said. “People like him only escalate.”
Despite her ordeal, the woman said she was pleased to have been an important part of bringing down Orchard and the international paedophile ring and predator site which was seized by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). “I’m happy and positive we kickstarted the end of this child sex trafficking ring and site,” she said.
“Now 1.1m child porn photos have been taken off the internet and people are getting their comeuppance. We are proud of that.”
POLICE RESPONSE
Investigating officer PC Steve Cann, of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, said: “What happened to the women in Hampshire is truly shocking, and highlights the very frightening realities of how people like Orchard can exploit online spaces to cause serious harm.
“They were targeted, objectified, and left in constant fear for their safety because of what Orchard did.
“The most insidious part of this was the sheer scale of harm police were able to identify from this one website alone. Our counterparts in the US have conducted some incredible work to remove this website, along with more than a million indecent images of children, and have identified a global paedophile ring.
“It is truly horrifying to think that this kind of offending is carried out on such an enormous scale right under all of our noses on the internet.
“I want to commend the bravery of the three women in this case in coming forward, and their relentless commitment to supporting a very long and protracted investigation. They have played a crucial part in ensuring authorities could target offenders exploiting innocent people.
“The impact the offending has had on them is profound. One of the victims and her husband have had the memories of their wedding day completely tarnished and can no longer bear to look at the photographs from their special day. All of those affected have been betrayed in the most horrendous way, and I hope the action taken by police both locally and overseas goes some way in helping them recover from this ordeal.”
Watch the video above of Orchard being grilled during police interview in which he slumps his head on the desk when damning evidence is put before him