US Army soldier arrested for using artificial intelligence to generate child porn * WorldNetDaily * by Andrew Powell

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that a U.S. soldier has been arrested after being found in possession of thousands of child pornography images he generated using artificial intelligence.

Seth Herrera, a U.S. Army soldier stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, was arrested and charged with allegedly transporting and possessing child sexual abuse images. Herrera also used AI to generate child pornography using photos of children he knew.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the Justice Department will prosecute AI-driven criminal activity and seek increased penalties if appropriate.

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“The misuse of advanced generative AI accelerates the spread of dangerous content, including child abuse material — so the Department of Justice is accelerating its enforcement efforts. As alleged, the defendant used AI tools to manipulate images of real children into horrific child abuse material. Criminals considering using AI to commit their crimes should pause and think twice — because the Department of Justice will prosecute AI-driven criminal conduct to the fullest extent of the law and seek greater penalties where warranted,” Monaco said.

Herrera has been charged with one count of transportation of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted.

According to U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska, AI-generated images of sexual abuse still constitute child pornography and perpetrators will be held accountable.

“Technology may change, but our commitment to protecting children does not. We will aggressively pursue those who produce and traffic in child sexual abuse material (CSAM), regardless of how that material was created. Simply put, AI-generated CSAM is still CSAM, and those who sexually exploit children, through whatever technological means, will be held accountable by our office, working with our law enforcement partners, for justice and the safety of our children,” Tucker said.

Nicole Argentieri, deputy assistant attorney general and head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said Herrera’s arrest should serve as a warning to criminals who engage in such acts.

“As alleged, Seth Herrera possessed thousands of images of violent sexual abuse of children, including infants. He also allegedly used AI to create images of sexual exploitation of children he knew. Today’s announcement should serve as a further warning that the Criminal Division will aggressively pursue those who possess or produce child abuse material, including when the images are generated by AI,” Argentieri said.

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