It's Still Kiddie Porn Even if it's AI Generated - Wisconsin Arrest

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“Technology may change, but our commitment to protecting children will not,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “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.”

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According to court documents, Steven Anderegg, 42, of Holmen, allegedly used a text-to-image generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) model called Stable Diffusion to create thousands of realistic images of prepubescent minors. Many of these images depicted nude or partially clothed minors lasciviously displaying or touching their genitals or engaging in sexual intercourse with men. Evidence recovered from Anderegg’s electronic devices revealed that he generated these images using specific, sexually explicit text prompts related to minors, which he then stored on his computer.

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Additionally, Anderegg allegedly communicated with a 15-year-old boy and described how he used Stable Diffusion to convert his text prompts into images of minors. Anderegg also allegedly used Instagram direct message to send the boy several GenAI images of minors lasciviously displaying their genitals. Anderegg came to the attention of law enforcement through a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) after Instagram reported Anderegg’s account to NCMEC for distributing these images.

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In one IM chat, Anderegg “explained that he does not publicly post fully nude images of minors on Instagram because that would be illegal.” During an online discussion with a 15-year-old boy, Anderegg allegedly asked if the child wanted any “customized” images, and then sent the minor three images depicting “prepubescent boys graphically displaying their erect penises.”

Arguing that Anderegg should be locked up in advance of trial, prosecutors revealed that the defendant’s residence was searched in 2020 after law enforcement officials determined that someone using the home’s Internet connection sought to download “multiple files of known child sexual abuse material over an online peer-to-peer network.” No charges were filed in connection with that probe.

If convicted of the federal charges, Anderegg--who has no previous criminal convictions--fames a mandatory minimum of five years in prison.

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