Man who used AI on real photos to create child abuse images is jailed for 18 years

A man who used AI to create child abuse images using photographs of real children has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

- Hannah Al-Othman

In the first prosecution of its kind in the UK, Hugh Nelson, 27, from Bolton, was convicted of 16 child sexual abuse offences in August, after an investigation by Greater Manchester police (GMP).

Nelson had used Daz 3D, a computer program with an AI function, to transform "normal" images of children into sexual abuse imagery, GMP said. In some cases, paedophiles had commissioned the images, supplying photographs of children with whom they had contact in real life.

He was also found guilty of encouraging other offenders to commit rape.

He sold his images in internet chatrooms, where he also discussed child sexual abuse with other offenders, making about £5,000 during an 18-month period.

While there have been previous convictions for "deepfakes", which typically involve one face being transferred to another body, Nelson created 3D "characters" from innocent photographs.

Sentencing Nelson at Bolton crown court yesterday, the judge, Martin Walsh, said it was "impossible to know" if children had been raped as a result of his images. Walsh said Nelson had no regard for the harm caused by distributing the "harrowing and sickening" material.