A Wisconsin man was arrested for allegedly producing, distributing, and possessing AI-generated images of minors in sexually explicit acts and transferring these images to a minor on the social media platform Instagram.
Forty-two-year-old Steven Anderegg, of Holmen, allegedly used a text-to-image generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) model called Stable Diffusion to create thousands of realistic images of nude or semi-nude minors engaging in sexual acts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Evidence recovered from Anderegg’s electronic devices revealed that he generated these images using specific, sexually explicit text prompts related to minors, which he then stored on his computer,” the DOJ stated in a press release.
Instagram was instrumental in reporting Mr. Anderegg’s account to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the DOJ said.
“Technology may change, but our commitment to protecting children will not,” said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in prepared remarks.
“The Justice Department will aggressively pursue those who produce and distribute child sexual abuse material—or CSAM [child sexual abuse materials]—no matter how that material was created. Put simply, CSAM generated by AI is still CSAM, and we will hold accountable those who exploit AI to create obscene, abusive, and increasingly photorealistic images of children,” Ms. Monaco said.
Mr. Anderegg is alleged to have boasted about creating the images, indicating he had a “ton” of them, and sent the images in direct messages.
“As alleged, Steven Anderegg used AI to produce thousands of illicit images of prepubescent minors, and even sent sexually explicit AI-generated images to a minor,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in prepared remarks.
Ms. Argentieri said this case and arrest send a clear message that producing “sexually explicit depictions of children is illegal, and the Justice Department will not hesitate to hold accountable those who possess, produce, or distribute AI-generated child sexual abuse material.”
According to court documents, this was not the first time Mr. Anderegg’s internet account was flagged during a child exploitation probe.
In 2020, law enforcement observed someone using the internet at the defendant’s home and requesting to download multiple files of CSAM.
Law enforcement searched Mr. Anderegg’s home then and he admitted to using and deleting the network program he used and resetting his internet modem frequently. No charges were brought in connection with this prior incident.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, which is investigating the case, did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.
Meta, which owns Instagram, also did not respond to a request for comment on this case and on how their platform is working to ensure the safety of minors.
Last month, Meta announced on its website that it is introducing nudity protection in direct messages.
According to Meta’s announcement, it will soon start testing a “nudity protection feature in Instagram DMs, which blurs images detected as containing nudity and encourages people to think twice before sending nude images,” according to its website.
The feature is designed to protect people from seeing unwanted nudity in their messages and also protect them from scammers who may send nude images that could trick people into sending their own images in a return DM.
Meta also announced nudity protection will be turned on by default for all teens under 18 globally. In addition, for those who are receiving an image that contains nudity, that image will be automatically blurred with a warning screen so the recipient can choose if they want to view it.
Mr. Anderegg remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing this week. If convicted of the four counts alleged in the indictment, he faces a total statutory maximum penalty of 70 years in prison and a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, according to the DOJ.
