EVEN THOUGH IMAGES WEREN’T REAL, THEY WERE ILLEGAL
S.A. (42), of Holmen, Wisconsin, was arrested in late May for the “alleged production, distribution, and possession of AI-generated images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and his transfer of similar sexually explicit AI-generated images to a minor.”
In addition to generating images of children “touching their genitals or engaging in sexual intercourse with men,” S.A. is said to have shared some of the images with a 15-year-old via social media.
If convicted, S.A. faces up to 70 years in prison, with “a mandatory minimum of five years.”
In a written statement, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, noted that “Technology may change, but our commitment to protecting children will not …. The Justice Department will aggressively pursue those who produce and distribute child sexual abuse material—or CSAM—no matter how that material was created. Put simply, CSAM generated by AI is still CSAM, and we will hold accountable those who exploit AI to create obscene, abusive, and increasingly photorealistic images of children.”
Can’t get any more explicit than that.
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