A man has been jailed for 18 years after creating AI-generated images of child sexual abuse in an “utterly chilling” landmark case.
Hugh Nelson, a 27-year-old from Bolton with a Masters degree in graphics, pleaded guilty to 11 offences in August at Bolton Crown Court, including three counts each of distributing and making indecent images.
The former student accepted requests from individuals via online chatrooms for “bespoke” explicit images depicting children being harmed both sexually and physically, and used pictures of real children to create some of the computer-generated images, the court heard.
Nelson frequently discussed child sexual abuse with other chatroom users and on three separate occasions encouraged the rape of children aged under 13.
His father sat in the public gallery alongside Nelson’s mother, who wept as their son – who appeared via video link from HMP Forest Bank – was jailed.
Passing sentence on Monday, Judge Martin Walsh said: “There appears to have been no limit to the depth of depravity exhibited in the images that you were prepared to create and to distribute to others. The nature and content of the communications which you entered into is utterly chilling.”
He ordered Nelson to also serve six years on licence after he is released from jail and he must sign the sex offender register for life. The Probation Service has concluded that Nelson posed the highest category of risk of danger to the public.
Nelson was unmasked as the administrator of a paedophile chatroom when he engaged in a conversation with an undercover officer in May last year, telling the office that he took commissions from customers for images created by 3D modelling software depicting child sexual abuse.
David Toal, prosecuting, previously said: “The defendant said he had over 60 characters in total, ranging from six months to middle-aged, and he charged £80 to create a new character.
“He further stated: ‘I’ve done beatings, smotherings, hangings, drownings, beheadings, necro, beast, the list goes on,’ with a laughing emoji.”
The defendant went on to say that “creating 3D porn could get me jail time”, and later added: “Most of the people who commission me don’t/can’t f*** their nieces, daughters etc, so the way I see it is I provide a valuable service.”
Nelson, who had no previous convictions, was arrested at his family home in Egerton last June. He told police he had a sexual interest mainly in girls aged about 12, and had met like-minded people on the internet and eventually began to create images for sale as he considered his offending “had got out of control”.
Various devices were seized and were found to contain a large number of indecent images as well as chats online with adults in France, Italy and the US regarding the sexual exploitation and rape of children, although there was no evidence before the court to say any child had been sexually or physically assaulted.
Bob Elias, defending, said Nelson was a “shy, gauche man” who led a “lonely, socially isolated existence” in his bedroom at his family home.
“What he was seeking primarily was validation, congratulations and a sense of belonging in a community,” Mr Elias said. “He was earning relatively small amounts of money and desperately wanted validation. He plunged down the rabbit hole to this sort of fantasy life and became completely engrossed in it.
“He has brought his life crashing down around him to the shock and horror of his immediate family.”
Nelson had recognised the depravity of his actions and had apologised for them in a letter to the judge, the court heard.
Describing the case as “particularly unique and deeply horrifying”, detective constable Carly Baines, of Greater Manchester Police said: “It became clear to us after extensive trawls of his many devices by digital forensic experts however, that his behaviour went far beyond what clearly, he was seeing as a ‘business opportunity’.”
“Not only was he creating and selling these images, but he was engaging in depraved sexualised chat online about children and going as far as to encourage people interested in his online content to commit contact offences such as rape against children they knew or were related to.
“This case is a first in our area, and is a landmark case nationally, as technology continues to develop, grow, and become more frequently used for a variety of reasons.”
She added: “This case has been a real test of the legislation, as using computer programmes in this particular way is so new to this type of offending and isn’t specifically mentioned within current UK law.
“What this case will do is set a precedent for future cases, but hopefully also play a role in influencing what future legislation looks like, to ensure offenders can continue to feel the full force of the law.”
Derek Ray-Hill, interim chief executive at the Internet Watch Foundation, said: “Technology is now enabling previously unthought-of violations of innocent children.
“We are discovering more and more synthetic and AI images of child sexual abuse, and they can be disturbingly life-like.
“Children deserve safety, and the abuse of this technology is a nightmare which only risks making the internet a worse and more dangerous place for everyone.”
Additional reporting by PA
