Dec. 26 (Tribune News Service) — An airman stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was arrested last week, along with the man who first reported him to law enforcement, on federal charges tied to child sexual abuse images created with artificial intelligence.

Caleb French, 27, was indicted last week on two charges of distribution and possession of child pornography.

An FBI investigation began after Anthaney O’Connor, 31, reported to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations in August that an airman sent him child sexual abuse materials through texts and an app, according to an affidavit written by an FBI agent and filed against O’Connor.

The affidavit doesn’t identify the airman. But the dates and descriptions of exchanges between the two men detailed in a criminal complaint against O’Connor match those in a memorandum filed in the case against French, who lives in a dormitory on JBER.

Both men were arrested Dec. 19 and remained in custody Thursday at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.

Law enforcement searched French’s dorm and found his phone, laptop and a thumb drive contained “videos and images depicting sexual abuse of children as young as infants, dating back years,” according to the memorandum filed by prosecutors in support of his detention.

French secretly took photos of young children in the community to turn them into AI-generated images, it said. Law enforcement found over 10,000 images of partially clothed children and hundreds of AI-generated pornographic images, the memorandum said.

French, who does not have children of his own, had searched online for the closest child development centers to him and lived within a short walk from an elementary school, according to the memorandum.

He continued to secretly take photos of children while the investigation was ongoing and remained active on an application that he used to share images of child sexual abuse, the memorandum said. Law enforcement followed French in December to a reindeer farm and watched as he appeared to take photos of a child, it said.

Investigators also looked into O’Connor’s devices after he reported receiving the child sex abuse material and found text messages containing images he had created using AI and other illicit materials he had not previously disclosed, a criminal complaint filed against him said.

He told investigators he had a large amount of child pornography stored on his devices and has been engaging in similar conduct for years, a separate memorandum filed against him said.

O’Connor is facing four charges, including receipt, distribution and possession of child pornography.

Prosecutors asked for both French and O’Connor to not be released prior to a trial, citing concerns that both men have engaged in exchanging and viewing child sexual abuse images for years and represent a threat to children in the community.

Another JBER soldier was arrested in August on separate charges tied to AI-generated images of child sex abuse materials.

(c)2024 the Alaska Dispatch News

Visit the Alaska Dispatch News at www.adn.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.