Ohio man was sentenced to 14 years after creating an AI child sexual abuse material

A Hilliard man was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison for using artificial intelligence to make AI child pornography using videos and photos of real children.

Austin Pittman, 35, admitted to distributing images he created with AI that used real photos and video of real children, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Southern District of Ohio. Pittman also allegedly admitted to viewing the material he himself created, telling authorities he did so “for the shock factor.”

Court documents indicated that the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received multiple tips about Pittman reportedly distributing child sexual abuse material on Kik Messenger in January 2025, according to a press release.

It wasn’t the first time Pittman exposed his pedophilia. After the authorities received the tips, they conducted an investigation that revealed that back in 2024, Pittman was under investigation at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he allegedly uploaded 47 files of child sexual abuse material to the same messenger, according to the press release.

Law enforcement searched Pittman’s home in April 2025 and, as a result, discovered images and video of real children, which he would later use to create the illegal material with the help of AI programs, the press release said. After that, he would distribute the child abuse material online via chat platforms.

An affidavit revealed that Pittman was present during the search. Pittman additionally admitted that he created Kik accounts under the username that triggered people on the platform to report the crime to the ICAC task force.

Pittman pleaded guilty to pedophilia charges in December 2025, admitting that he sexually exploited children by creating child pornography.

According to U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II, “this case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.”

“Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims,” prosecutors said in a release.

State Sens. Jane Timken, R-Jackson Township, and Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, previously proposed Senate Bill 393 to punish pedophiles for creating, distributing, or possessing child AI pornography, thus extending the protection of children in the Buckeye State.

The bill would force pedophiles who create, distribute, or possess AI child porn to face the same punishment that pedophiles who create child porn with real children face.

The punishment would extend to people who combine the photo of a child with the photo of another nude body, a well-known loophole that the pedophiles have been using for a very long time, according to the advocates, such as Alaina Hagans of the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Lou Tobin of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, and Emily Gemar of the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence.

State House and Senate members previously introduced bills to combat AI child porn, including House Bills 185, 469, 524, and 786, and Senate Bills 163 and 164.