COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus man has pleaded guilty to a disturbing campaign of AI-powered cyberstalking and sexual harassment that targeted at least six women and multiple children — and in doing so became the first person in the United States to be convicted under the Take It Down Act, a federal law enacted in 2025.
James Strahler II, 37, entered his plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court, admitting to cyberstalking, producing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse, and publication of digital forgeries under the newly enacted federal law.
Federal prosecutors say Strahler had installed more than 24 AI platforms and more than 100 AI web-based models on his phone, which he used to generate sexually explicit images and videos of real people without their consent — then weaponized that content to terrorize his victims.
Between December 2024 and June 2025, Strahler sent harassing messages to at least six adult female victims, including both real and AI-generated nude images. Prosecutors say he used artificial intelligence to create pornographic videos depicting at least one victim engaged in sex acts with her own father, then distributed those videos to her co-workers. He also contacted the mothers of victims and demanded nude photos of them, threatening to release explicit material of their daughters if they refused.
Court documents say Strahler repeatedly called victims and left voicemails of himself masturbating or making explicit threats of rape, and referenced the victims’ specific home addresses in his messages.
The crimes against children are equally disturbing. Strahler used the faces of minor boys from his own community to generate child sexual abuse material, morphing their likenesses onto the bodies of adults and children and creating videos depicting the boys engaged in sex acts with family members. He then posted more than 700 images to a website dedicated to child sexual abuse. An additional 2,400 images and videos on his phone were flagged by investigators as depicting nudity, morphed child sexual abuse material, or violence.
“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.”
The case was initially reported to the Hilliard Police Department and the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office before being referred to the FBI. Strahler was arrested on federal charges in June 2025.
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. He faces significant federal prison time across the three counts.
If you have information about online child exploitation, contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline at 1-800-843-5678 or cybertipline.org.