A paedophile who used AI to make innocent photos of children into ‘images of the most depraved nature’ has been jailed for 18 years.
Hugh Nelson, 27, took requests from people online for ‘bespoke’ images showing children being sexually and physically harmed.
The former student, who has a Masters degree in graphics, sold some of his ‘artwork’ to chatroom users due to his desperation for validation, a court heard.
Some of his commissions used premade ‘characters’, while he would also create images of new children for a higher price.
Nelson, from Bolton in Greater Manchester, frequently discussed child sexual abuse with other chatroom users and on three separate occasions encouraged the rape of children aged under 13.
Bolton Crown Court heard he led a ‘lonely, socially isolated existence’ in his bedroom at his parents’ home without a job, where he used computer programmes to feed his own and others’ sick fantasies.
He posed the highest category of risk of danger to the public, the Probation Service concluded.
Confessing to police, Nelson said: ‘There’s this programme…which is what I’ve used to create these images.
‘I’ve probably been doing it for about two years now. And I could probably say that they have got worse in nature as I’ve continued with them.
‘It’s sick how much it affects your mind, especially when you have no job, you sit at home, you play games, you watch porn and you make theses stupid goddam images.
‘My mind is very corrupted and warped.’
Explaining how he used normal photos as a template, he said: ‘It can just be images of them posing, fully clothed, to hardcore rape images. So everything really.
‘The images that I sent, I’m not sure you would classify them as any restricted image because they’re not sexual in nature at all.
‘They’re just used as reference to create a 3D model from them.’
David Toal, prosecuting, told how ‘the use of AI is rapidly improving and the imagery is becoming more realistic.’
While it was previously laborious to edit images, using tools such as Photoshop or digital art programmes, it is now possible to create new images on a computer just by typing in a prompt.
The case resulted from Operation Influence, an investigation into the ‘creation and developing trends of AI in relation to child sexual exploitation’.
Nelson was unmasked as the administrator of a paedophile chatroom when an undercover officer gained entry in May last year.
He told the officer he took commissions, and went on to send computer-generated images of child sexual abuse.
Mr Toal said: ‘The defendant said he had over 60 characters in total, ranging from six months to middle-aged, and he charged £80 to create a new character.
‘He further stated “I’ve done beatings, smotherings, hangings, drownings, beheadings, necro, beast, the list goes on” with a laughing emoji.’
The defendant went on to admit to the officer that ‘creating 3D porn could get me jail time’, and later added: ‘Most of the people who commission me don’t/can’t f*** their nieces, daughters etc, so the way I see it is I provide a valuable service.’
Nelson, who had no previous convictions, was arrested at his family home in Egerton, in June last year and told police he had a sexual interest mainly in girls aged about 12.
Devices seized were found to contain indecent images as well as chats with adults in France, Italy and the United States, although there was no evidence before the court to say any child had been sexually or physically assaulted.
Bob Elias, defending, said: ‘He has brought his life crashing down around him to the shock and horror of his immediate family.’
Nelson had recognised the depravity of his actions and had apologised in a letter to the judge, the court heard.
He pleaded guilty to various sexual offences including intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of the rape of a child under the age of 13, making and distributing indecent images of children and attempting to incite a child aged under 16 to engage in sexual activity.
Passing sentence, Judge Martin Walsh said: ‘There appears to have been no limit to the depth of depravity exhibited in the images that you were prepared to create and to distribute to others.’
He ordered Nelson to also serve six years on licence after he is released from jail and he must sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.
Outside court, Jeanette Smith, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: ‘I hope this conviction sends a clear message to those who exploit this technology and inflict harm on children: you will be robustly pursued by law enforcement, prosecuted by the CPS and brought to justice.’
Derek Ray-Hill, interim chief executive at the Internet Watch Foundation, said: ‘Technology is now enabling previously unthought of violations of innocent children.
‘We are discovering more and more synthetic and AI images of child sexual abuse, and they can be disturbingly life-like.
‘Children deserve safety, and the abuse of this technology is a nightmare which only risks making the internet a worse and more dangerous place for everyone.’
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