Photographer in France used AI to create and distribute child sexual abuse material
A photographer in Pauillac, France was arrested and detained after authorities discovered he had used artificial intelligence to create and distribute thousands of sexually explicit images of children by manipulating legitimate photographs he had taken. The investigation was triggered by an international police tip-off and involved seizures of digital material from his studio and home.
What happened
A 64-year-old photographer in Pauillac, Gironde, was arrested on 24 November 2025 and placed under examination after international police cooperation led to a tip-off about the sharing of child sexual abuse material. Technical investigations by the National Cyber Unit located the downloads and file exchanges at his photography studio.
The photographer used AI to create sexualized images by manipulating real photographs of children whom he had taken as part of his work photographing weddings, school events, and community gatherings in Gironde and the Bordeaux area. Several thousand files of child sexual abuse material were seized from his computer equipment and studio.
Reported impact
Parents of children whose photographs had been taken by the photographer expressed concern that their daughters' images had been misused. The photographer was well-known in the local community and had access to children through legitimate professional photography work.
Governance controls
The Prosecutor's Office of Bordeaux charged the photographer with importation, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, as well as distribution of algorithmically generated sexual content reproducing a person's image without consent. He was remanded in provisional detention in accordance with the prosecutor's application.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.