Incident 1448: Ohio Man Pleaded Guilty after Prosecutors Alleged He Used AI to Create and Distribute Nonconsensual Intimate-Image Forgeries Including CSAM in Harassment Campaign

Responded
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.

Tools

New ReportNew ResponseDiscoverView History

Incident Stats

Incident ID
1448
Report Count
3
Incident Date
2024-12-01
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Applied Taxonomies
MIT

MIT Taxonomy Classifications

Machine-Classified
Taxonomy Details

Risk Subdomain

4.3. Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation

Risk Domain

  1. Malicious Actors & Misuse

Entity

Human

Timing

Post-deployment

Intent

Intentional

Loading...
Columbus man pleads guilty to cyberstalking exes, creating AI-generated obscene material of adults & children
justice.gov · 2026
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…

Loading...
Ohio man becomes first to be convicted under new AI statute for sexually explicit images
theguardian.com · 2026

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,…

Loading...
Columbus man sentenced to 15 years in prison for cyberstalking exes, creating AI-generated obscene material of adults & children
justice.gov · 2026
United States Attorney's Office Southern District of Ohio post-incident response

Defendant was first in nation convicted of violating new Take It Down Act

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- James Strahler II, 37, of Columbus, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 180 months in prison for cybercrimes that included both real and A…

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.
Seen something similar?

Similar Incidents

By textual similarity

Did our AI mess up? Flag the unrelated incidents

Loading...
Defamation via AutoComplete

Defamation via AutoComplete

· 27 reports
Loading...
New Jersey Police Wrongful Arrested Innocent Black Man via FRT

New Jersey Police Wrongful Arrested Innocent Black Man via FRT

· 4 reports
Loading...
Detroit Police Allegedly Wrongfully Arrested Black Man Due to Purportedly Faulty Facial Recognition Technology

Detroit Police Allegedly Wrongfully Arrested Black Man Due to Purportedly Faulty Facial Recognition Technology

· 11 reports
Previous IncidentNext Incident