JBER soldier makes federal court appearance on charges surrounding AI-generated child sex abuse images

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A 34-year-old Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson soldier made his first appearance in federal court Tuesday after being indicted on multiple federal charges related to child sex abuse materials.

Seth Herrera, a U.S. Army soldier, is accused of using artificial intelligence and AI chatbots to generate pornography depicting minors with whom he was in contact. Some of the children are the same age as a daughter of Herrera’s, court documents show.

On Thursday, a federal grand jury charged Herrera with one count of transportation of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.

He was arrested the following day, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska.

If convicted, Herrera faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

After hearing arguments from the prosecution and Herrera’s defense as to whether or not he should be detained during the duration of the trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kyle Reardon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska ruled in favor of the government, agreeing that Herrera posed a “danger to the community” and displayed a “level of sophistication to navigate the web to hide his footprints and conceal activities.”

While no trial-setting conference happened on Tuesday, a discovery management conference was set for 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 1, 2024.

Attorney Rachel L. Rothberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Alaska’s News Source. Herrera’s defense attorney, Ben Muse, said in an emailed statement that he “cannot offer comment at this time.”

According to court documents, Herrera is also accused of viewing images specifically depicting violent sexual abuse of children and infants, which was generated from images and videos of children pulled from various social media pages.

“The misuse of cutting-edge generative AI is accelerating the proliferation of dangerous content,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement, “including child sexual abuse material — so the Department of Justice is accelerating its enforcement efforts. As alleged, the defendant used AI tools to morph images of real kids into horrific child sexual abuse material.”

According to a pre-trial detention document filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, Herrera also saved “surreptitious recordings” of minors undressing in his home.

A forensic review of three of his cell phones revealed tens of thousands of videos and images depicting the violent rape and sexual abuse of children dating back as early as March 2021.

Herrera is said to have used encrypted messaging applications and joined groups known for trafficking child sexual abuse material. According to prosecutors, he then kept the materials in a password-protected app — that was disguised as a calculator on his phone — for the purpose of hiding the files.

In March of this year, the FBI released a public service announcement regarding child sexual abuse material, warning of the legal consequences involved with obtaining and creating such material through AI.

“Federal law prohibits the production, advertisement, transportation, distribution, receipt, sale, access with intent to view, and possession of any CSAM, including realistic computer-generated images,” the FBI stated.

According to a statement released by Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to Alaska’s News Source, Herrera was a motor vehicle operator with the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 11th Airborne Division. He joined the Army in November 2019 and was previously stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Fort Bliss, Texas; and a base in Korea, before arriving in Alaska in August 2023.

After hearing arguments from the prosecution and Herrera’s defense as to whether or not he should be detained for the duration of the trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kyle Reardon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska ruled in favor of the government, agreeing that Herrera posed a “danger to the community” and displayed a “level of sophistication to navigate the web to hide his footprints and conceal activities.”

If anyone has information concerning Herrera’s alleged actions, or if you may have encountered someone in person or online using the name Seth Herrera, the Justice Department asks that you contact the Homeland Security Investigations tip line at (877) 447-4847.

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