In a plot twist absolutely no one asked for, 52-year-old Michael Byerly pleaded guilty to online impersonation after admitting he Photoshopped a woman’s face onto explicit images and posted them to porn sites. Yes—someone in Lubbock used Photoshop, and it wasn’t to fix hail damage.
Byerly didn’t stop at digital creepery; he also contacted strangers while pretending to be the victim, helpfully sharing not just the fake images but also her job and home address. Because if there’s one thing Lubbock needed more of, it’s men making women unsafe on the internet and in real life.
The victim only found out when random men tracked her down on Facebook to ask, “hey is this you?” Because that’s how your day starts here: a cold front, maybe a dust storm, maybe a stranger asking if you star in amateur porn. Who knows!
Prosecutors called the case an “anomaly,” which is adorable, considering AI fakes are spreading faster than a Lubbock grassfire in April. But sure—let’s pretend this is a once-in-a-blue-moon situation and not the new normal in a city where half the dudes still think “deepfake” is a band playing at Cook’s Garage.
Byerly will spend the next five years in prison, presumably without access to Photoshop, WiFi, or whatever forum taught him these skills in the first place.
Honestly, was prison the sentence—or just taking his computer away?
https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/crime/lubbock-man-admits-to-creating-fake-intimate-pictures/