Man who created ‘bespoke’ AI child abuse images for pedophiles jailed for 18 years

A man who used artificial intelligence to create “bespoke” child abuse images to sell to other pedophiles has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Hugh Nelson, 27, accepted requests from individuals via online chat rooms for explicit images of children being harmed both sexually and physically.

The former student, who has a master’s degree in graphics, also used real images of children for some of his computer-generated “artworks”, Bolton Crown Court heard.

Nelson frequently discussed child sexual abuse with other chat room users and encouraged the rape of children under 13 on three separate occasions.

The Probation Service concluded that he posed the highest category of danger to the public.

Sentencing, Judge Martin Walsh, Honorary Recorder of Bolton, said: “There appears to be no limit to the depth of depravity displayed in the images you were prepared to create and distribute to others.

“The nature and content of your communications are extremely chilling.”

He ordered Nelson to serve six years on license after his release from prison and sign the Sex Offender Register for life.

Judge Walsh told Nelson it was impossible to tell whether a child had actually been sexually abused because of his photographs, but that he intended to encourage others to rape children and had “no idea” how his photographs would be used.

Earlier, David Toal, who prosecuted the case, said the case stemmed from Operation Impact, an investigation into “trends in the creation and development of AI (artificial intelligence) in relation to child sexual exploitation”.

He added: “The use of artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving and images are becoming more realistic.”

60 characters created by artificial intelligence

The defendant was revealed to be the administrator of a pedophile chat room while chatting with an undercover police officer in May last year.

Nelson told the officer that he received kickbacks from customers for images created by 3D modeling software and continued to send computer-generated images depicting the sexual abuse of children.

Mr Toal said: “The defendant said he had over 60 characters in total, ranging from six months to middle-aged, and charged £80 to create a new character.

“He also said, ‘I’ve done beatings, strangulation, hanging, suffocation, decapitation, necro, monster, the list goes on,’ with a laughing emoji.”

The defendant continued: “Creating 3D porn could get me a prison sentence,” and later added: “Most of the people who commission me cannot fuck their nieces, daughters, etc. I see myself providing a valuable service.”

Nelson, who had no previous convictions, was arrested at his parents’ home in Egerton, Bolton, in June last year and told police he had a sexual interest in girls, mostly around the age of 12.

He said he met like-minded people online and eventually started creating images for sale because he thought crime was “getting out of control.”

Various devices were seized and found to contain numerous sexually explicit images, as well as online chats regarding the sexual abuse and rape of children with adults in France, Italy and the United States; but no evidence was found before the court. The child was sexually or physically assaulted.

‘Socially isolated existence’

Bob Elias, defending, said Nelson was a “shy, rude man” who led a “lonely, socially isolated existence” in his bedroom at his parents’ home.

His father sat in the public gallery at the court next to Nelson’s mother, who had her head bowed and sobbed into the crook of her arm as their son was jailed via video link from HMP Forest Bank.

The defendant admitted a number of sexual offenses at the hearing, including knowingly encouraging or assisting the commission of rape of a child under 13, producing and distributing indecent images of children, and attempting to induce sexual intercourse with a child under 16. activity

Derek Ray-Hill, interim chief executive of the Internet Watch Foundation, said: “Technology now enables previously unthinkable abuses against innocent children.

“We are discovering more and more synthetic and AI images of child sexual abuse, and they can be disturbingly lifelike.

“Children deserve safety, and misuse of this technology is a nightmare that risks making the internet a worse and more dangerous place for everyone.”

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