The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
A man in Wisconsin is facing serious charges after allegedly using AI to create realistic images of youngsters in sexual situations and sharing some of the pictures with a teenage boy.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has made a huge splash in current society and it has various uses. Some AI models and programs create digital photos that can easily be mistaken as authentic, which grants users the ability to often successfully pass off fake images for real ones.
According to reports, last Fall, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was alerted about someone believed to have digital media containing explicit pictures of children. Law enforcement became involved and they started watching the man’s online activity. In a short time, they reportedly collected enough information to ask a judge to grant them a warrant to confiscate his computers so they could search for illegal content.
After they collected the electronics from the 44-year-old man’s home, they went through the files to see what was stored there. They allegedly discovered more than 10,000 sexual images of children. When they dug deeper, they reportedly learned the man used an AI program that creates images based on the text the user inputs to create the photos. They also alleged that he shared some of the pictures with a teenager he was talking to on the internet.
On May 15, the grand jury in the Western District of Wisconsin indicted the man with one count each of producing, distributing, and possessing obscene visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and transferring obscene material to a minor under the age of 16. He is being held without bail.
If he is convicted of the charges, he could be sentenced to over 70 years in prison.
If you or someone you love is suspected of a criminal offense, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.