Ohio Man Becomes First in Nation Convicted Under New 'Take It Down' Act for AI Cybercrimes
National News - A Columbus man has pleaded guilty in federal court to multiple cybercrime offenses involving AI-generated sexually explicit content, online harassment, and threats of violence. Prosecutors said the case includes one of the first known convictions under the Take It Down Act, a federal law enacted in 2025.
James Strahler II, 37, of Columbus, entered his guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Ohio. According to federal authorities, his offenses included cyberstalking, producing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse, and publication of digital forgeries.
Officials said the publication of digital forgeries charge falls under the Take It Down Act, which prohibits the non-consensual online publication of intimate visual depictions and AI forgeries.
"We believe Strahler is the first person in the United States to be convicted under the Take It Down Act," said U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II. "We will not tolerate the abhorrent practice of posting and publicizing AI-generated intimate images of real individuals without consent. And we are committed to using every tool at our disposal to hold accountable offenders like Strahler, who seek to intimidate and harass others by creating and circulating this disturbing content."
Court filings stated that Strahler used telephone calls, voicemails, text messages, and web postings to harass numerous victims. Investigators found that he had installed more than 24 AI platforms and more than 100 AI web-based models on his phone.
Federal authorities said the conduct took place from December 2024 through June 2025. During that time, Strahler allegedly sent harassing messages to at least six adult women. The messages included nude images of the victims, including both real and AI-generated material.
In one example described by prosecutors, Strahler used AI to create pornographic videos showing at least one adult victim engaged in sex acts with her father. Authorities said he then sent those videos to the victim's co-workers.
Prosecutors also said he contacted the mothers of adult female victims and demanded nude images from them. If they refused, he threatened to circulate explicit or obscene images he had created of their daughters.
Officials said Strahler also left voicemails in which he was masturbating or making rape threats. According to the government, he referenced victims' home addresses in those messages.
The case also involved AI-generated obscene content depicting children. Prosecutors said Strahler used the faces of minor boys from his community and placed them onto the bodies of adults or children to create videos showing the boys engaged in sex acts.
Authorities said some of the content depicted the boys in sexual acts with their mothers or grandmothers.
Investigators said Strahler created more than 700 images involving real victims and animated persons and posted them to a website dedicated to child sexual abuse.
They also found an additional 2,400 images and videos on his phone that had been flagged as depicting nudity, morphed child sexual abuse material, or violence.
The conduct was first reported to the Hilliard Police Department and the Delaware County Sheriff's Office. The case was later referred to the FBI. Strahler was arrested on federal charges in June 2025.
His sentence will be determined at a future hearing. The court will consider the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors before issuing a final sentence.
The guilty plea was announced by Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jason Cromartie, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Cincinnati Division; and officials with the Maryland AI and Synthetic Media Threats Task Force.
The plea was entered before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Sarah D. Morrison. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski is representing the United States in the case.
