Columbus man pleads guilty to cyberstalking exes, creating AI-generated obscene material of adults & children

COLUMBUS, Ohio - James Strahler II, 37, of Columbus, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to cybercrimes that included both real and AI-generated sexually explicit images and threats of violence to numerous victims.

Strahler had installed more than 24 AI platforms and more than 100 AI web-based models on his phone. The defendant used telephone calls, voicemails, text messages and web postings to engage in a campaign of harassment against his victims.

Specifically, Strahler pleaded guilty today to cyberstalking, producing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse and publication of digital forgeries. His conviction of publication of digital forgeries is part of the Take It Down Act, a law enacted in 2025 that prohibits non-consensual online publication of intimate visual depictions and AI forgeries.

"We believe Strahler is the first person in the United States to be convicted under the Take It Down Act," said U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II. "We will not tolerate the abhorrent practice of posting and publicizing AI-generated intimate images of real individuals without consent. And we are committed to using every tool at our disposal to hold accountable offenders like Strahler, who seek to intimidate and harass others by creating and circulating this disturbing content."

From December 2024 until June 2025, Strahler sent harassing messages to at least six adult female victims. These messages included nude images of the victims, both real and AI-generated.

For example, Strahler used AI to create pornographic videos depicting at least one adult victim engaged in sex acts with her father. He then distributed those videos to the victim's co-workers. He also messaged the mothers of the adult females and demanded nude photos of them, threatening to circulate explicit or obscene images he created of their daughters if they did not comply. He often called the victims and left voicemails of him masturbating or threatening rape. He referred to the victims' specific home addresses in his threats.

Strahler also posted online AI-generated obscenities he created of children. He generated these files using the faces of minor boys from his community. He then morphed the face of the minor boys onto the bodies of other adults or children and created videos that depicted the boys engaged in sex acts. Strahler specifically created AI-generated obscenity of the minor boys having sex with their mothers and/or grandmothers.

Strahler created more than 700 images of both real victims and animated persons and posted them to a website dedicated to child sexual abuse. An additional 2,400 images and videos on his phone were flagged as depicting nudity, morphed child sexual abuse material or violence.

Strahler's criminal conduct was first reported to the Hilliard Police Department and the Delaware County Sheriff's Office before being referred to the FBI. He was arrested on federal charges in June 2025.

Sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors at a future hearing.

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jason Cromartie, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; and officials with the Maryland AI and Synthetic Media Threats Task Force (MASTTF); announced the guilty plea entered today before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Sarah D. Morrison. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Czerniejewski is representing the United States in this case.

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