An airman stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was arrested final week, together with the person who first reported him to legislation enforcement, on federal costs tied to baby sexual abuse photos created with synthetic intelligence.
Caleb French, 27, was indicted final week on two costs of distribution and possession of kid pornography.
An FBI investigation started after Anthaney O’Connor, 31, reported to the Air Power Workplace of Particular Investigations in August that an airman despatched him baby sexual abuse supplies by means of texts and an app, in accordance with an affidavit written by an FBI agent and filed towards O’Connor.
The affidavit doesn’t establish the airman. However the dates and descriptions of exchanges between the 2 males detailed in a legal criticism towards O’Connor match these in a memorandum filed within the case towards French, who lives in a dormitory on JBER.
Each males had been arrested Dec. 19 and remained in custody Thursday on the Anchorage Correctional Complicated.
Regulation enforcement searched French’s dorm and located his cellphone, laptop computer and a thumb drive contained “movies and pictures depicting sexual abuse of kids as younger as infants, courting again years,” in accordance with the memorandum filed by prosecutors in help of his detention.
French secretly took images of younger kids in the neighborhood to show them into AI-generated photos, it mentioned. Regulation enforcement discovered over 10,000 photos of partially clothed kids and a whole bunch of AI-generated pornographic photos, the memorandum mentioned.
French, who doesn’t have kids of his personal, had searched on-line for the closest baby improvement facilities to him and lived inside a brief stroll from an elementary faculty, in accordance with the memorandum.
He continued to secretly take images of kids whereas the investigation was ongoing and remained lively on an software that he used to share photos of kid sexual abuse, the memorandum mentioned. Regulation enforcement adopted French in December to a reindeer farm and watched as he appeared to take images of a kid, it mentioned.
Investigators additionally appeared into O’Connor’s gadgets after he reported receiving the kid intercourse abuse materials and located textual content messages containing photos he had created utilizing AI and different illicit supplies he had not beforehand disclosed, a legal criticism filed towards him mentioned.
He instructed investigators he had a considerable amount of baby pornography saved on his gadgets and has been participating in comparable conduct for years, a separate memorandum filed towards him mentioned.
O’Connor is going through 4 costs, together with receipt, distribution and possession of kid pornography.
Prosecutors requested for each French and O’Connor to not be launched previous to a trial, citing considerations that each males have engaged in exchanging and viewing baby sexual abuse photos for years and symbolize a menace to kids in the neighborhood.
Another JBER soldier was arrested in August on separate charges tied to AI-generated photos of kid intercourse abuse supplies.
