James Strahler II used AI to create over 700 sexually explicit images and videos of real victims and children, distributing them to harass and cyberstalk at least six adult women and create child sexual abuse material.
James Strahler II, a 37-year-old Columbus man, pleaded guilty to cybercrimes involving both real and AI-generated sexually explicit images, becoming the first person convicted under the Take It Down Act. From December 2024 to June 2025, Strahler used over 24 AI platforms and more than 100 AI web-based models installed on his phone to harass at least six adult female victims. He created AI-generated pornographic videos depicting victims in sexual acts with family members and distributed these to their co-workers. Strahler also threatened the victims' mothers, demanding nude photos and threatening to circulate explicit images of their daughters if they refused. He frequently called victims leaving voicemails of him masturbating or threatening rape, and referenced their specific home addresses in threats. Additionally, Strahler created AI-generated child sexual abuse material using faces of minor boys from his community, morphing their faces onto adult or child bodies in sexual scenarios including with their mothers and grandmothers. He created more than 700 images of both real victims and animated persons, posting them to a website dedicated to child sexual abuse. An additional 2,400 images and videos on his phone were flagged as depicting nudity, morphed child sexual abuse material, or violence. The case was first reported to local police before being referred to the FBI, leading to his arrest in June 2025.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to gain a personal advantage over others such as through cheating, fraud, scams, blackmail or targeted manipulation of beliefs or behavior. Examples include AI-facilitated plagiarism for research or education, impersonating a trusted or fake individual for illegitimate financial benefit, or creating humiliating or sexual imagery.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
