First Take It Down Act conviction, but this guy kept making AI nudes even after arrest

An Ohio man just became the first person convicted under the Take It Down Act, and the details of his case are as grim as they are instructive.

James Strahler II, 37, pleaded guilty to creating and distributing both real and AI-generated explicit images of at least 10 victims without their consent. But here’s the part that made me do a double take: cops found he’d been making AI nudes even after his arrest. That’s not someone who made a mistake. That’s someone who saw the law as an inconvenience.

According to the Justice Department, Strahler used AI tools to generate fake sexualized images of at least six women he knew personally. In one particularly vile instance, he created an image depicting a victim engaged in sex with her father — and then shared that image with her mother and co-workers. He also used AI to place the faces of minor boys on adult bodies, including young relatives of his victims. The incest angle wasn’t accidental; it was targeted harassment.

When law enforcement searched his phone, they found he’d installed over 24 AI platforms and more than 100 AI web-based models. The result: hundreds, if not thousands, of non-consensual intimate images (NCII) depicting both women and children. This is higher than I expected for a single perpetrator, and it suggests the barrier to entry for this kind of abuse is now essentially zero.

The Take It Down Act, signed into law in 2024, criminalizes the creation and distribution of NCII — including AI-generated material. Strahler is the first person convicted under it, which makes this a landmark case. But I’m not sure “landmark” is the right word when the guy kept offending after being arrested. It tells me the deterrent effect isn’t working as intended.

What’s especially troubling is how easy this has become. A decade ago, creating fake explicit images required Photoshop skills and hours of work. Now you can do it with a few prompts on a phone app. The law is playing catch-up, and cases like this show it’s not catching up fast enough.

Strahler’s sentencing is pending, and he faces up to 10 years in prison. That’s a real sentence, but I wonder if it will actually make anyone think twice. The kind of person who does this — who creates incest images of women they know and shares them with their families — isn’t exactly deterred by legal consequences. They’re driven by something darker.

This case should be a wake-up call, but I suspect it’ll be treated as an anomaly rather than a sign of what’s coming. The Take It Down Act is a useful tool, but it’s not a solution. We need better detection, better platform accountability, and frankly, better cultural norms around what’s acceptable to create with AI. Because if we think one conviction will stop this, we’re kidding ourselves.