Ohio man becomes first to be convicted under new AI statute for sexually explicit images

Key Points:

• James Strahler II, an Ohio man, pleaded guilty to cyberstalking, producing obscene child sexual abuse images, and publishing AI-generated intimate visual forgeries, marking the first conviction under the federal Take It Down Act.
• The Take It Down Act, signed into law by Donald Trump in May 2023 and championed by Melania Trump, criminalizes the non-consensual publication of intimate images, including AI-generated "deepfake" content, and requires social media platforms to remove such content within 48 hours of a victim's request.
• Prosecutors detailed Strahler’s harassment of at least six adult women with real and AI-created nude images, including creating and distributing AI-generated pornographic videos involving victims and their relatives, and threatening victims' families for nude photos.
• Strahler also produced over 700 AI-generated obscene images involving children by superimposing faces of local minors onto adult or child bodies in sexual content, which he posted on a child sexual abuse website.
• Authorities emphasized their commitment to prosecuting offenders who use AI to create and circulate non-consensual intimate images, highlighting the seriousness of this new form of cybercrime.