Army soldier charged with using AI to generate child sexual abuse material
A U.S. Army soldier was indicted on federal charges for allegedly using AI tools to generate child sexual abuse material depicting minors he knew. The forensic review found tens of thousands of images and videos on his devices dating back to March 2021.
What happened
Seth Herrera, a 34-year-old U.S. Army soldier stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, was indicted on multiple federal charges related to using artificial intelligence and AI chatbots to generate pornography depicting minors. According to court documents, some of the children depicted were the same age as Herrera's daughter and were children with whom he was in contact.
A forensic review of Herrera's cell phones revealed tens of thousands of videos and images depicting violent sexual abuse of children dating back to at least March 2021. According to prosecutors, the AI-generated images were created by morphing images of real children pulled from social media into child sexual abuse material.
Reported impact
The alleged conduct involved minors in Herrera's contact, and court documents indicate he also saved surreptitious recordings of minors undressing in his home. According to prosecutors, Herrera viewed images depicting violent sexual abuse of infants and children.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco stated that the misuse of generative AI is accelerating the proliferation of child sexual abuse material.
Index analysis
Herrera used encrypted messaging applications and joined groups known for trafficking child sexual abuse material, storing materials in a password-protected app disguised as a calculator on his phone.
Governance controls
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kyle Reardon ruled that Herrera posed a danger to the community and displayed sophistication in concealing his activities, ordering his detention pending trial.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.