York County Man Arrested For Possession Of Deepfake Images Of Sexual Abuse

Around a decade ago, people who spent all their free time online were joking about something called Rule 34, which states that anything that exists, even things that exist only in your imagination, can be remixed into pornographic content. The Internet is a noticeably less friendly place than it was in 2015, and even back then, people were starting to get worried about the Internet’s unmistakable mean streak. Today, the cruel imaginings that could never take place face to face are so pervasive that there are laws about them. Before smartphones, an intimate encounter or proposition could, at best, become the subject of rumors, neither verifiable nor falsifiable. Today, many states have “revenge porn” laws that criminalize the sharing of sexually suggestive or explicit images that were originally sent to the recipient in an intimate context, intended as a secret between the couple. Now that audiovisual software has become so advanced that we can make realistic looking images and videos of events that never happened, states have started to legislate against deepfake content that depicts real people in sexual situations that never occurred. If you are facing charges for producing deepfake sexual content, contact a Pittsburgh sex crime lawyer.

Fake Content Can Cause Real Harm

Possession of child sexual abuse material has been illegal since before the rise of personal computers and the World Wide Web. Earlier this year, Pennsylvania introduced a law that expanded the definition of child sexual abuse material to include content produced using deepfake technology, so that it shows the realistic likenesses real children in sexual abuse situations that the children did not experience in person. These criminal charges apply even if the children whose likenesses appear in the deepfakes never met the person who produced the deepfake content, or even if they never knew that the images existed. This law follows the logic of the federal Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018, which takes the position that minors are harmed when adults view sexually explicit images of them, even if the child depicted in the image and the adult viewing it have never met.

In the News

Luke Teipel of Dallastown is facing criminal charges for 33 counts of child sexual abuse material. Investigators traced flagged content to Teipel’s devices, and police obtained a warrant to search his cellphone. They found 33 child sexual abuse image, 29 of which were generated by artificial intelligence; only four of the images depicted children who were physically present when the images were made. Teipel, 22, is the first person in Pennsylvania to be arrested under Act 125, which criminalizes the possession of child exploitative content created with deepfake technology.

Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases

A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for possession of illegal images created using deepfake technology.  Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.

Source:

wgal.com/article/york-county-man-accused-possessing-child-pornography-generated-partially-ai/64479970