Paedophile who created ‘creepy’ AI child abuse footage jailed in landmark case

Sentenced to 18 years in prison for creating a man artificial intelligence-created images of the child sexual abuse In a landmark case that was “completely chilling.”

Hugh Nelson, 27 years old Bolton The artist, who has a master’s degree in graphics, pleaded guilty at Bolton Crown Court in August to 11 charges, including three charges each of distributing and making indecent images.

The court heard the former student accepted requests for “bespoke” sexually explicit images of individuals being harmed both sexually and physically via online chat rooms, and used images of real children to create some of the computer-generated images.

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

His father sat in the public gallery next to Nelson’s mother, who wept as her sons were jailed, who appeared via video link from HMP Forest Bank.

Sentencing on Monday, Judge Martin Walsh said: “There seems to be no limit to the depth of depravity displayed in the images you are 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. The Probation Service concluded that Nelson posed the highest category of danger to the public.

It turned out that Nelson was a manager of a company pedophile While chatting in a chat room with an undercover officer in May last year, he told the office he was receiving kickbacks from customers for images created by his 3D modeling software depicting child sexual abuse.

Prosecutor David Toal previously said: “The defendant said he had more than 60 characters in total, ranging from six months old 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 give me assignments can’t fuck their nieces, nephews, daughters, etc. I see myself providing a valuable service.”

Nelson, who had no previous convictions, was arrested at his parents’ home in Egerton last June. He told police that he was mainly sexually attracted to girls around the age of 12, met like-minded people online and eventually began creating images for sale because he thought crime was “getting out of control”.

Various devices were seized and found to contain numerous indecent images as well as online chats regarding the sexual abuse and rape of children with adults in France, Italy and the USA; but there was no evidence before the court that there was any child. had been sexually or physically assaulted.

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

“What he was primarily looking for was validation, congratulations and a sense of belonging to a community,” Mr. Elias said. “He was making relatively small amounts of money and desperately wanted validation. He dived down the rabbit hole into this kind of fantasy life and was completely immersed in it.

“To the shock and horror of his immediate family, his life was devastated.”

The court heard Nelson realized the depravity of his actions and apologized in a letter to the judge.

Detective Constable Carly Baines, of Greater Manchester Police, described the case as “particularly unique and utterly horrifying” and said: “However, after a comprehensive scan of many devices by digital forensics experts, we realized his behavior went well beyond what is obvious. He saw it as an opportunity.”

“Not only was he creating and selling these images, he was also engaging in lewd, sexually explicit online chats about children, going so far as to encourage people interested in his online content to commit communication crimes such as rape against children they knew or were related to.”

“This case is a first in our region and a turning point nationally. technology “It continues to evolve, grow, and be used more frequently for various reasons.”

He added: “This case has been a real test for the legislation as this use of computer programs is so new to this type of offending and is not specifically mentioned in existing UK law.

“This case will set a precedent for future cases, but hopefully it will also play a role in influencing what future legislation looks like to ensure offenders can continue to feel the full force of the law.”

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

“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.”

Additional reporting by PA