Convicted child sex offender back in court after being charged with possession of AI-generated child pornography

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut published a press release on Monday related to a man being charged with child exploitation offenses related to artificial intelligence-generated child pornography.

Travis Tilley, 40, originally from Naugatuck, appeared in New Haven federal court on Monday after he was charged with the receipt of possession of child pornography. It appears that this is not the first time Tilley has had a run-in with authorities related to child exploitation crimes.

“The penalties in this matter are enhanced because of Tilley’s prior state convictions."

The Daily Caller reported that state probation officers who were responsible for supervising Tilley as he transitioned in 2022 from a brief stay behind bars to a 15-year probation term for sexual intercourse with a child and possession of child pornography seized his laptop and hard drive in March 2023.

After analyzing the laptop and hard drive, the officers reportedly discovered “two videos depicting the sexual exploitation of prepubescent children, approximately 60 images of AI-generated child pornography, and sexually explicit chat room messages,” according to the press release.

The press release noted that Tilley allegedly took part in child pornography and AI-generated child pornography-based online chat rooms. The authorities also discovered Tilley had used illegal software, accessed several pornographic sites, used an operating system designed to erase a digital footprint, and used encrypted email and messaging services.

As a consequence, Tilley was ushered back into state custody. He faces 15-40 years in prison if he is found guilty of receiving child pornography and 10-20 years in prison if convicted of possessing child pornography, per the press release.

“The penalties in this matter are enhanced because of Tilley’s prior state convictions,” the press release stated.

It is still unclear how AI will affect child exploitation in the future, but it appears that the technology could cause problems for authorities that are currently using "antiquated technology and laws," according to the New York Times.

Over the past year, AI technologies have made it possible for criminals to create explicit images of children without the authorities being able to readily identify who the children are.

Shelby Grossman, who helped write a report for Stanford University’s Internet Observatory, said, "Almost certainly in the years to come, the CyberTipline will be flooded with highly realistic-looking A.I. content, which is going to make it even harder for law enforcement to identify real children who need to be rescued."

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