Description: An Ohio man, James Strahler II, pleaded guilty in federal court after prosecutors alleged that, from late 2024 into mid-2025, he used AI tools to create and distribute nonconsensual intimate-image forgeries as part of a broader harassment campaign targeting at least six adult women. Authorities said the conduct also involved additional CSAM material. The Department of Justice said it believes this was the first U.S. conviction under the Take It Down Act.
Editor Notes: Timeline note: According to reporting, the crimes in this case occurred between December 2024 and June 2025. The incident ID date of 12/01/2024 is an approximation. The defendant, reportedly the first person convicted under the Take It Down Act, pleaded guilty on 04/07/2026. The incident ID was created on 04/11/2026.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Unknown image generator developers , Unknown generative AI developers and Unknown deepfake technology developers developed an AI system deployed by James Strahler II, which harmed Women in Ohio , Women , minors and Epistemic integrity.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Unknown generative AI systems , Unknown deepfake technology and Unknown CSAM apps
Incident Stats
Incident ID
1448
Report Count
2
Incident Date
2024-12-01
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
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U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of Ohio, United States Department of Justice post-incident response
Defendant is first in nation convicted of violating new Take It Down Act
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- James Strahler II, 37, of Columbus, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to cybercrimes that included both real and AI-generated sexually expl…
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An Ohio man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to cybercrimes involving real and AI-generated "sexually explicit images", becoming what the Department of Justice claims is the first person convicted under a new federal AI statute.
James Strahler II,…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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