COLUMBUS, Ohio – A federal jury found a Vinton County man guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography and AI-generated images of child sexual abuse.
Cody L. Prater, 28, of McArthur, Ohio, was convicted on all four counts of crimes related to his receipt and possession of both child pornography and obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children.
The verdict was announced Thursday evening following a trial that began on Feb. 2 before U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson.
According to evidence presented at trial, Prater received and possessed videos depicting the rape and sadistic sexual abuse of real minors, primarily babies and toddlers. He also used an artificial intelligence text-to-image program to convert his text prompts into photorealistic depictions of child sexual abuse, including nude prepubescent children being mutilated and tortured, bestiality, and children engaged in sexual acts with adults.
“Prater collected vile videos of real babies and toddlers being sexually abused and created other AI-generated obscene material involving children,” said U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II. “We will continue to crack down on those who victimize children through these horrific materials. I commend the investigators and trial team for their outstanding work.”
“Following a prior conviction for a state child pornography offense, the defendant continued to demonstrate his depravity through his possession and trafficking of images depicting the brutal sexual abuse of both real and photorealistic AI-generated infants and toddlers,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Child sexual abuse material, whether real or AI-generated, causes real harm to real children. As demonstrated by today’s verdict, the Department of Justice will continue to use all available tools to prosecute offenders who create, share, possess, or otherwise illegally engage with such material.”
Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Detroit investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorneys Emily Czerniejewski and Tyler Aagard of the Southern District of Ohio and Trial Attorney Eduardo Palomo of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) are representing the United States in this case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
