Former Alaska soldier convicted on federal charges he used AI to create child sex abuse images
A former U.S. Army soldier pleaded guilty Wednesday to child exploitation crimes committed while living in Alaska and Texas, including attempted production of child sexual abuse material.
Seth Herrera was stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage when he was arrested in August 2024 on federal charges accusing him of using artificial intelligence to generate explicit materials and storing tens of thousands of additional images depicting child sexual abuse on multiple cellphones.
Herrera, a 34-year-old Army specialist at the time, was a heavy vehicle driver assigned to the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion within the 11th Airborne Division based at JBER, military officials have said.
A grand jury indicted him in August 2024 on the charges involving images of numerous children, including some he knew.
Herrera entered guilty pleas to a count of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and a count of receipt of child pornography, according to a plea agreement signed Wednesday.
Investigators connected Herrera to the explicit material when he tried to access a link showing the sexual abuse of two girls, federal prosecutors wrote in a 2024 detention memorandum.
Homeland Security investigators executed a search warrant at his home on base and found three phones containing “tens of thousands of videos and images” depicting violent sexual acts against children as young as infants, the memorandum said. Herrera also used encrypted messaging apps and created his own group to receive and store child sexual abuse images, it said.
Herrera, who previously lived in Texas, began using encrypted or “privacy-enhancing” applications in March 2021 to access, possess, receive and transport child sex abuse materials on his cellphones, according to federal prosecutors. He created his own publicly accessible group on one platform where he stored his preferred files, they said.
Across various applications, Herrera participated in hundreds of groups and channels including some involving bestiality, incest, and babies or toddlers, prosecutors said. He also was accused of using AI to create explicit child sex abuse materials from non-explicit images of children, including children known to him.
Herrera moved to Alaska in August 2023 and transported files across state lines because they were stored in password-protected photo vaults on his phones, prosecutors said.
Herrera joined the Army in 2019 and moved to Alaska last year, according to military officials. He was previously stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma; at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; at Fort Bliss, Texas; and in South Korea.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in late September and faces between 15 and 20 years in prison.
Herrera will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison, according to the plea agreement in the case.
Pea Ridge man arrested on child sex abuse material charges
PEA RIDGE, Ark. — The Benton County Sheriff's Office confirmed that a registered sex offender was arrested on a charge of possessing sexually explicit material depicting a child.
A probable cause affidavit reported that Trenton Ledbetter from Pea Ridge uploaded around 50 images and videos depicting child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Ledbetter is also accused of attempting to trade explicit images of children with other users on the social media platform Kik.
On Dec. 18, 2025, a search warrant was executed at Ledbetter's home. At the time of his arrest on May 4, almost 100 files of CSAM were connected to devices or social media accounts owned by Ledbetter.
Ledbetter had previously been arrested on a CSAM charge in 2020.
Ogdensburg man facing child sex abuse charges
City police state that its Criminal Investigations Unit became involved in an alleged sex abuse investigation on June 18. The allegations involved a minor known to Dafoe.
Black River Falls man charged in the sexual assault, abuse of a 10-year-old
BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. (WXOW) – A Black River Falls man is being charged after a 10-year-old told police she was being sexually abused.
According to the criminal complaint:
A 10-year-old told police that Callender sexually assaulted her repeatedly between the months of January through May.
In once instance, the child said Callender blocked his bedroom door with a storage bin and locked it so the child could not leave. She said if she did not comply he would threaten to send her to an adoption center.
The child also told police Callender would hit her with a belt causing bruises.
He is currently being held on a $20,000 cash bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 10.
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