The first person convicted under the new anti-AI deepfake law, i Reduce Action. It’s a historic moment for advocates and a growing movement to protect people, especially children, from harmful and abusive AI-generated content.
President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law in 2025. It was the first federal law of its kind to directly address AI-generated deepfakes, an issue that is becoming increasingly important with the rapidly improving quality of AI-generated images and video. The law criminalizes the creation and sharing of non-consensual, computer-generated or AI images, and requires technology companies such as Meta and Google to create processes for people to request that images containing similar content be removed from their platforms.
James Strahler II, 37, of Ohio, was arrested in June 2025 on federal charges of cyberstalking, publishing or sharing digital crimes of adult sexual abuse and producing child sexual abuse. He pleaded guilty to all four charges Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Sentencing will be determined at a future hearing. Strahler’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US Department of Justice said Strahler had 24 AI platforms and accessed more than 100 web-based AI models on his machines. He used those tools to create 700 portraits of real life victims, some of them using the faces of young boys in his community. He had an additional 2,400 images of child sexual abuse on his devices.
“We will not tolerate the abhorrent practice of posting and advertising intimate AI-generated images of real people without consent,” US Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II said in a statement. “And we are committed to using every tool at our disposal to catch offenders like Strahler, who seek to intimidate and harass others by creating and distributing this disturbing content.”
This case is a significant victory for advocates of the Take It Down Act. First lady Melania Trump, a proponent of the law, celebrated the news in a post on X and thanked Gerace for “protecting Americans from cybercrime in this new digital age.”
The US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, another supporter, told CNET that CyberTipline has received more than 7,000 reports of people creating or possessing AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
“Survivor trauma is real, permanent and deeply traumatic,” said Yiota Souras, NCMEC’s chief legal officer. “We commend Congress for providing this much-needed new law to help law enforcement catch offenders. Stronger protections, greater accountability in the field and continued support for survivors are critical to preventing this abuse and helping those affected to heal.”
Some supporters pointed to specific language in the law regarding AI.
“This conviction is proof that the Take It Down Act has teeth,” Stefan Turkheimer, vice president of public policy at RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, told CNET in a statement. “For too long, criminals have harnessed AI to create and distribute inappropriate intimate photos, destroying jobs, families, and lives without legal consequences. That is changing now.”
