The first conviction under First Lady Melania Trump’s ‘Take It Down Act’ has landed, with federal prosecutors using the law for the first time against AI-generated sexual abuse material.
It comes out of Ohio, where prosecutors say a months-long effort used AI tools to target women with explicit images, threats, and repeated harassment.
James Strahler II, 37, pleaded guilty in federal court after authorities said he produced explicit images and videos using AI and sent them to victims, co-workers, and family members over time. The Justice Department says he installed more than two dozen AI platforms and ran more than 100 web-based models to generate the material.
Authorities say the harassment spanned late 2024 through mid-2025 and involved at least six women. The messages included both real and AI-generated nude images. Altered videos were sent to workplaces, while threats referenced victims’ home addresses and daily routines.
“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.”
Investigators describe the use of AI to create explicit material involving minors by placing the faces of local boys onto other sexual content. Those files were then posted online.
More than 700 images had already been uploaded to a site tied to child sexual abuse, according to authorities, while another 2,400 images and videos were recovered from his phone. Many were flagged for nudity, altered content, or violent material.
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One of the charges falls under the ‘Take It Down Act,’ which President Donald Trump signed into law last year after it passed Congress with overwhelming support. The law bans the non-consensual online posting of intimate images, including AI-generated fakes.
The law carries penalties of up to two years in prison in cases involving adults and up to three years in cases involving minors. It also requires websites to remove illegal material within 48 hours of notice.
Melania Trump said it marked the first conviction under the law and thanked federal prosecutors in a social media post Tuesday.
TAKE IT DOWN ACT: FIRST CONVICTION
— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) April 7, 2026
Today marks the first conviction under the Take It Down Act - protecting victims from non-consensual AI-generated sexually explicit images, cyberstalking, and threats of violence.
Thank you U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II for protecting…
The case began with reports to local police, which were then referred to the FBI’s Cincinnati Division. Investigators built the case over several months before Strahler was arrested on federal charges in June 2025.
He now faces sentencing as federal prosecutors press forward with the first case under the new law.
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