MCARTHUR — A federal jury convicted an Ohio man after he allegedly received and possessed child sexual abuse material, including AI-generated images of child pornography.
28-year-old Cody Prater from McArthur, Ohio, was convicted on four counts related to his alleged possession of child pornography, according to a spokesperson.
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Before his trial, Prater challenged his indictment on First Amendment grounds.
The court denied his motion, ruling that the possession and receipt of obscene generated AI material that shows sexual abuse of children is not constitutionally protected speech.
Prater received and possessed videos that depict rape and sadistic sexual abuse of real minors, primarily babies and toddler according to evidence presented at trial.
He then allegedly used an AI text-to-image program that converted his text prompts into photorealistic depictions of child sexual abuse, which include bestiality, nude prepubescent children being mutilated and tortured, and children engaging in sexual acts with adults.
“Child sexual abuse material, including that which is AI-generated, causes substantial harm. It further creates depraved and sadistic desires to harm real children,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Prater faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison on these charges.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
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