A man from Bolton has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for using artificial intelligence to create child sexual abuse images from innocent photographs of real children. Hugh Nelson, 27, was convicted of 16 child sexual abuse offences in August, in what Greater Manchester Police (GMP) described as the first prosecution of its kind in the UK.
Nelson used a computer programme called Daz 3D, which has an AI function, to transform normal pictures of children into sexual abuse imagery. In some cases, paedophiles commissioned the images, supplying photographs of children with whom they had contact in real life. He sold the images in internet chatrooms, earning about £5,000 over 18 months, and also encouraged other offenders to commit rape.
Sentencing him at Bolton Crown Court on Monday, Judge Martin Walsh said it was 'impossible to know' if children had been raped as a result of his images. He described the material as 'harrowing and sickening' and said Nelson had no regard for the harm caused. The court heard that Nelson told an undercover police officer he charged £80 to create a new character, listing acts including 'beatings, smotherings, hangings, drownings, beheadings, necro, beast, the list goes on'.
Nelson was arrested in June last year and told police he felt 'vile' and that his mind was 'corrupted'. Searches of his devices revealed he had exchanged messages encouraging the rape of children under 13. The investigation identified suspects and victims worldwide, including in Italy, France and the US. Nelson was found guilty of encouraging the rape of a child under 13, attempting to incite a boy under 16 to engage in a sexual act, distributing and making indecent images, and possessing prohibited images.
Defending, Robert Elias said Nelson lived a 'lonely bedroom life in his parents' home' and sought validation online. 'He plunged down the rabbit hole to this sort of fantasy life and became completely engrossed in it,' Elias said. Jeanette Smith, a specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said: 'It is extremely disturbing that Hugh Nelson was able to take normal photographs of children and, using AI tools, transform them into images of the most depraved nature.'
Detective Chief Inspector Jen Tattersall of GMP said the case challenges the view of what constitutes an indecent image of a child. She noted that computer-generated imagery is becoming more prevalent, with other forces turning to GMP for support. In the past week, detectives had begun investigations into two new cases involving such images.
