Illinois college student had thousands of AI-generated child porn images: report
Illinois college student had thousands of AI-generated child porn images: report
A student at Northern Illinois University allegedly had thousands of images of child pornography generated using artificial intelligence.
DEKALB, Ill. - A student at Northern Illinois University allegedly had thousands of images of child pornography generated using artificial intelligence.
Michael B. Erickson, 19, was charged this week with nearly two dozen counts of child pornography, according to police reports by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.
Michael Erickson (DeKalb County Sheriff's Office)
What we know:
An online tip led investigators to Erickson’s residence hall. Investigators obtained a search warrant and on May 1, they interviewed Erickson, who allegedly admitted to creating deep fake images of people, which are AI-generated images of real people.
Investigators took two cell phones and a computer as evidence and found more than 20,000 images of "suspected child sexual abuse material," according to the police report, which included a combination of videos, photos and deep fake images.
There were also several deep fake photos depicting a victim in which AI was used to make her appear nude. Erickson allegedly uploaded real photos of the victim to Telegram and paid to have the clothing removed.
"So it could be a photograph of that victim fully clothed," said Dekalb County Deputy Sheriff Jim Burgh. "Once he submitted the photograph into this program, then it would keep their face, their body, but it would remove the clothing that was in the photograph and made them nude."
The victim told investigators she was 17 years old at the time the photos were taken. Investigators said there were other AI-generated nude photos of the victim, some in which she might have been as young as 16.
In total, he disseminated more than 25 deep fake images of the victim between Feb. 28 and March 6 of this year, the report said.
Investigators said Erickson allegedly did the same with photos of four other victims, all of whom were underage at the time the photos were taken. A photo of one victim was taken when she was 13 years old, the report said.
The report said there were "several thousand" other images on the phone of minors who have yet to be identified.
Investigators also said they found alleged messages between Erickson and others to whom he sold the photos. In one conversation on March 5, Erickson was asked on Snapchat why he made so many photos, to which he is alleged to have said, "to sell them to boys."
In a statement, a Northern Illinois University spokesperson said the school was aware that a student was arrested "under serious charges" on Monday. The spokesperson said the student was no longer living on campus housing and referred questions to the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office.
The focus going forward for investigators in DeKalb County is finding more victims from the Batavia area.
"We have some parents who have reached out to us from that area and we're still trying to see if there's more we can identify and go from there," said Burgh.
A Dekalb County judge released Erickson from custody pending trial on Tuesday, but ordered that Erickson must wear electronic monitoring and stay away from children, schools and the internet.
Big picture view:
Last year, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law prohibiting the creation of AI-generated child sexual abuse images, which went into effect this year.
Former Naperville Police Detective Rich Wistocki said the use of artificial intelligence to create child porn is growing "By leaps and bounds. Because it's so easy."
Wistocki is a nationally recognized expert on child cyber crimes. He said AI deepfake child porn is spreading unchecked online. He said many of the AI companies that are based overseas need to be held accountable.
"They need to be working close with (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) and say ‘all right, what do we do?' he said. "What do we need to do to catch this?’ Instead of thinking about money and getting it."