COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Hilliard man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after admitting to distributing child sexual abuse material and using artificial intelligence to morph images and videos of real children he knew into pornographic content.
Austin Pittman, 35, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court to 168 months in prison on two child pornography counts.
According to court documents, the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force first received tips about Pittman in January 2025 through a cyber tipline flagging activity on the Kik messaging app. Investigators later discovered Pittman had also been the subject of a 2024 investigation at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he uploaded 47 files of child sexual abuse material to the same platform.
A search warrant executed at Pittman’s home in April 2025 led to the seizure of multiple devices. Investigators found that Pittman had secretly recorded children he had access to, then used AI programs to alter the images to make the minors appear nude. He then distributed that material through online platforms dedicated to child sexual abuse content.
Pittman was arrested in April 2025 and pleaded guilty in December 2025.