James Strahler received a 15-year prison sentence on Tuesday for violating the Take It Down Act. Investigators recovered more than 3,000 images on his devices, a mix of real abuse material and AI-generated content.
The verdict
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Ohio, details the case against the 38-year-old resident. He faces charges for cybercrimes involving sexually explicit images and threats of violence against numerous victims.
Prosecutors state Strahler created over 700 images of real victims and animated figures. He posted this material on a website dedicated to child sexual abuse. An additional 2,400 items on his phone were flagged for depicting nudity, morphed child sexual abuse material, or violence.
Among the specific content were AI-generated images of minor boys from his local community. These images showed the boys engaged in sexual acts with their mothers and grandmothers.
How the case unfolded
Investigators found another 2,400 images and videos on his phone depicting nudity, morphed child sexual abuse material, or violence. Strahler admitted to local police that he sent this content in early 2025. This followed a report from a woman who said she and her mother received 31 calls and texts in nine days.
The messages included threats of sexual assault, extortion, and images of the woman changing clothes and using the bathroom inside her home. Court records say other messages included photos created with AI showing the woman engaged in sexual conduct with multiple men, including male relatives.
Strahler maintained multiple accounts on Motherless.com to post images and videos of victims. Dutch authorities took Motherless offline in May following a CNN investigation into sexual abuse material on the site.
The Take it Down Act went into effect in May, between Strahler’s first arrest and his eventual federal charges. On January 5, following the first woman’s reports, he was charged with several misdemeanors before being released. Once out of jail, he continued stalking and harassing his victims, court records show.
Police brought additional misdemeanor charges against Strahler in April. He pleaded guilty to cyberstalking, producing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse, and publication of digital forgeries. He was arrested and posted a $50,000 bond. In June, more women reported being harassed by Strahler, and police turned the case over to the FBI. He was arrested on federal charges.
A legal contradiction
Last month, a federal appeals court panel found, on the basis of legal precedent from decades ago, that the First Amendment protects the possession of AI-generated child sexual abuse material at home. This applies as long as it does not depict a child that exists in real life. In that other case, a software engineer allegedly used generative AI tools to create hyper-realistic abuse material depicting fake children. The charges for possession were dropped, but he still faces charges for producing and distributing child sexual abuse material.
What it means
Several states have adopted laws that criminalize AI generated non-consensual intimate imagery, but Ohio does not currently have a law specifically addressing deepfakes. The Take It Down Act is the first federal-level law in the country to make it a crime to knowingly publish or threaten to publish such material. Advocates for online speech and First Amendment experts have raised concerns about the law’s strict 48 hour window for platforms to remove violating content after it is made aware of it, noting the potential for misuse and censorship.
