According to the New York Post, on November 8, a North Carolina man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for using artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate images of his underage niece into sexually explicit content.
David Tatum, 41, will also face an additional 30 years behind bars for possessing multiple images of child exploitation, including some involving family members and an acquaintance. His total sentence amounts to 40 years in prison.
David Tatum has been sentenced to 40 years for his criminal behavior.
“It is horrifying to think that someone would exploit the images of their own niece to satisfy their depraved desires. It is even more terrifying that the perpetrator is a man who was entrusted with the care of this child during her vulnerable moments,” stated Robert DeWitt, deputy FBI representative in North Carolina, in a press release.
The sentencing comes six months after Tatum was charged with one count of production of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.
According to evidence presented at the trial, Tatum had spent five years collecting a cache of child pornography beginning in 2016.
In the previous year, he recorded videos of his 15-year-old niece and other underage family members while they were changing clothes and showering in a family residence in Maine.
Moreover, Tatum had also repeatedly recorded images of a minor by using a camera directed at the girl’s skirt during a school event.
According to court documents, the girl had just turned 18 only five days before the investigation began—yet Tatum noted in his journal that she was only 17. This indicates that Tatum was fully aware that he was filming a minor during the exploitation.
When the videos collected by Tatum were no longer available, he moved to a website to enhance the technical quality of the images featuring the minors into sexually explicit forms.
Authorities have reported that two of the images Tatum used AI to alter were taken during a school event and a birthday party that took place at school.
When arrested in 2021, Tatum had over 1,000 titles of child exploitation films, including videos with content marked “PTHC,” which is shorthand for “pre-teen hardcore,” referring to explicit images or videos involving minors. Tatum later admitted to his deviant behavior.
In addition to his 40-year sentence, Tatum was also ordered to pay a restitution fee of $99,000 (approximately 2.4 billion VND) under the Human Trafficking Victims Support Act for the exploitation of minors.
After his release from federal prison, he will be required to register as a sex offender.
Source: New York Post
