According to authorities, a man who used artificial intelligence (AI) to produce lewd photos of children is scheduled to go to jail in a "landmark case."
Hugh Nelson, 27, entered a plea to 11 charges on Friday at Bolton Crown Court. The charges included three counts of making and distributing indecent images, one count of possessing prohibited images, and three other counts of trying to encourage a boy under 16 to engage in a sexual act.
In July 2023, he also acknowledged disseminating lewd "pseudo photographs" of children and publishing an offensive article. September 25 is the day of sentencing.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Det Con Carly Baines described Nelson's transformation of "normal everyday photographs" of actual children into pornographic imagery as "particularly unique and deeply horrifying."
She declared, "This case is a landmark case nationally and a first in our area."
Nelson, of Briggsfold Road, Bolton, was allegedly selling the pictures online for money or for free and "engaging in depraved sexualized chat about children," according to GMP.
According to Det Con Baines, the investigation into his crimes has "gone global," with additional arrests and safeguarding referrals made in numerous UK cities and nations.
GMP stated that because "using computer programmes in this particular way is so new to this type of offence and isn't specifically mentioned within current UK law," Det Con Baines hoped the case would "play a role in influencing what future legislation looks like."
"Underground areas of the internet"
The Crown Prosecution Service's Jeanette Smith declared that it is a serious crime to "misuse emerging technology to create this material."
"On the request and demand of dark corners of the internet, children who have already experienced horrifying sexual abuse are sometimes having their image used again to recreate new abuse scenarios."

"Matters, because we assess that the viewing of these images - whether real or AI-generated - materially increases the risk of offenders moving on to sexually abuse children themselves," the National Crime Agency previously stated in reference to abuse imagery produced by AI.