ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Federal prosecutors have charged a U.S. soldier with using artificial intelligence to create sexually explicit images of children he knew, a sign that the government is increasingly criminalizing the creation of child sexual abuse images using artificial intelligence.
Seth Herrera, 34, a soldier stationed in Anchorage, Alaska, possessed thousands of images depicting the brutal sexual abuse of children and used AI tools to create realistic child sexual abuse material, the Justice Department said in a statement Monday. He was arrested last week and made his first court appearance Tuesday.
Herrera took photos of minors he knew and ran them through AI software to undress them or turn them into pornographic images showing them performing oral sex or being penetrated by a sex object, court documents say. He stored and received child sexual abuse images through popular messaging apps such as Telegram.
Herrera’s arrest comes as AI-generated CSAM, commonly known as child pornography, is flooding the internet using software that creates synthetic images. The tools are increasingly being promoted on pedophile forums as a way to create uncensored and highly photorealistic sexual depictions of children, child safety researchers told The Washington Post.
The case also comes as federal officials are making legal arguments that images created by AI should still be treated in a similar manner to real-world recorded cases of child sexual abuse.
“The misuse of cutting-edge generative AI is accelerating the spread of dangerous content,” Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in the Justice Department statement. “… criminals considering using AI to commit their crimes should pause and think twice.”
The Defense Department referred questions to the Army. The Army did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Herrera’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Benjamin Muse, declined to comment.
Herrera’s arrest comes after a series of federal prosecutions involving AI and child abuse. In May, a Wisconsin man was charged with creating child sexual abuse images using AI, believed to be the first federal prosecution for creating child sexual abuse material that references images created entirely using AI.
In two other recent cases, federal officials said men in North Carolina and Pennsylvania used AI to insert children’s faces into explicit sex scenes, creating a so-called deepfake, and digitally removed clothing from children in real photos.
According to court documents, a review of Herrera’s three Samsung Galaxy phones seized under a Homeland Security Investigations search warrant revealed that he is in possession of “tens of thousands” of videos and images dating back to March 2021 depicting the brutal rape of children in infancy.
In addition to Telegram, Herrera also used other messaging apps, including Potato Chat, Enigma and Nandbox, to distribute explicit content. Herrera also created his own public Telegram group to store his explicit content, court documents say.
Herrera created “distorted” images of sexual abuse by taking pictures and videos of children he knew in intimate situations, such as showering, court documents say. He zoomed in and used AI to “enhance” those photos, prosecutors added. When those images “did not satisfy his sexual desire,” Herrera resorted to AI to depict minors engaging in “the type of sexual behavior he wanted to see,” officials said.
Robert Hammer, special agent in charge of the Pacific Northwest Division of Homeland Security Investigations, said Herrera’s role as a soldier who used artificial intelligence to create images of child sexual abuse was a “serious breach of trust” and provided a foretaste of the challenges law enforcement faces in protecting children.
Herrera is an Army specialist and served as a motor transport driver in the 11th Airborne Division at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, according to Stars and Stripes.
Herrera is accused of transporting, receiving and possessing images of child sexual abuse. If convicted, Herrera faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
