CSA in the USA > Illegal Immigrant on bail rapes 17 y/o girl in MD; CSA predator gets 50 years in prison in Ill; Georgia man could get 40 years w/o parole; Texan gets life w/o parole for CSA

 

Illegal immigrant accused in Maryland rape had previous sex abuse arrest in New York

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — A man who is locked up in Montgomery County on rape charges is also in the country illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Prior to his arrest in Maryland, DHS said Abdoulaye Dia was picked up in New York City in June on charges of sexual abuse by forcible compulsion, forcible touching – sexual/intimate parts of another person, injure child less than 17, and sexual abuse without consent.

A spokesperson from the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said their office requested Dia be held on bond, though a judge ordered him out on supervised release.

RELATED | Empower rideshare driver accused of raping teenage girl in Maryland parking lot

Dia is now accused of raping a girl in a Silver Spring parking lot. Police said they were called Tuesday after the victim turned up at a hospital. Dia, who was working as a driver for Empower rideshare, had driven the girl to the parking lot where the attack happened, according to investigators.

Detectives identified Dia using information from the rideshare app. Montgomery County police arrested him Wednesday in Lanham. He is being held without bond, facing charges of first-degree rape, kidnapping, second-degree assault, and third-degree sex offense.

DHS said Dia, who is from Guinea, first entered the country illegally in 2023 near Lukesville, Arizona.

Vermilion Co. man sentenced to 50 years in prison for child sex crimes

by: Bradley Zimmerman

Posted: Sep 18, 2026 / 02:23 PM CDT

Updated: Sep 19, 2026 / 01:08 PM CDT

VERMILION COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — A Vermilion County man will spend decades behind bars after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child and producing child pornography.

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office announced on Friday that Antonio Miranda, 35 of East Lynn, entered a plea deal and learned his fate earlier that day. He pleaded guilty to two Class X felony counts — predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and producing child sexual abuse material — and he received consecutive sentences of 40 and 10 years, respectively.

Urbana man arrested on child sexual abuse material charges after search of property

“The sexual abuse of a child is one of the most heinous crimes, and this guilty plea is the next step in holding this predator accountable. Survivors and their families deserve to find justice as they heal from the trauma of child exploitation.” said Attorney General Kwame Raoul. “My office’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force will continue to collaborate with law enforcement at all levels and throughout the state to ensure individuals responsible for this abuse are held accountable.”

The Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case with the Vermilion County State’s Attorney’s Office. In a news release, officials said an investigation by Raoul’s office and the Illinois State Police in 2024 resulted in a search of Miranda’s home in East Lynn. He was taken into custody and charged after investigators discovered evidence of sexual assault of a child and production of child sexual abuse material.

“This is a serious violation of the trust and innocence of children. While no sentence can undo the trauma the victims have endured, this prison sentence reflects the justice and accountability that must follow when children are exploited and victimized,” said Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy. “I am grateful for our continued partnership with the Attorney General’s Office. I would also like to thank all of the partners involved in ensuring this predator was brought to justice. Our thoughts remain with the victims and their family, and it is our hope that this sentence gives them a sense of closure as they continue to navigate the lasting impact of these horrific crimes.”

Court records show Miranda was charged with 20 felony counts — two Class X counts each of predatory criminal sexual assault and possessing child pornography, and 16 Class 2 counts of possessing child pornography. He reached a plea deal last month, and he pleaded guilty to two of the Class X counts; all of the other counts were dismissed.

Miranda will be required to serve 85% of his 40-year sentence for predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and 50% of his 10-year sentence for possessing child pornography. By law, those sentences are to be served consecutively, but he was given credit for 864 days already served in custody.

This amounts to at least 37 years in prison.

Georgia man convicted of molesting minor, could spend 40 years behind bars

A Whitfield County jury found a man guilty on two counts of child molestation on Wednesday, September 16.

William Gabriel McFarland now faces a potential maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, according to a release from the Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office.

Evidence presented at trial showed that on September 29, 2023, McFarland molested a minor while her mother was away from home.

More than a year later, the minor disclosed the abuse during a counseling session at the Gordon County Child Advocacy Center and Sexual Assault Center.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Calhoun Police Department, and Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office all helped investigate the case.

Following the jury’s verdict, a superior court judge scheduled McFarland’s sentencing for Friday, September 25.

Since the defendant has prior felony convictions, it’s possible that the judge utilizes Georgia’s “three strikes” law, meaning he could be required to serve the maximum sentence without the possibility of parole.

Amarillo man gets life in prison after retrial in child sex abuse case

CANYON, Texas (KVII) — A Randall County judge sentenced an Amarillo man to life in prison after a jury convicted him of continuous sexual abuse of a young child.

A jury found John Jacob Wilson guilty on Thursday after deliberating for 31 minutes.

Prosecutors said the case began in 2022, when the victim told a school counselor that Wilson had sexually abused her. The counselor reported the disclosure, and detectives with the Amarillo Police Department’s Special Victims Unit investigated.

The victim and her siblings were later interviewed at The Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center.

During the trial, the victim testified about the abuse and how her life changed after she disclosed it, prosecutors said.

The jury also heard evidence that the victim’s mother knew about the abuse, failed to report it and told the victim not to tell anyone. Prosecutors said the mother later forced the victim out of the home after she sought help.

The district attorney’s office said charges against the mother were accepted for prosecution but later declined by a grand jury.

Wilson chose to have the judge determine his punishment. After a brief punishment hearing, 47th District Judge Dee Johnson sentenced him to life in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

A person convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a young child in Texas is not eligible for parole.

The case had previously gone to trial in 2025, but that jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial.

Prosecutors said they decided to retry the case after confirming the victim was willing to proceed with another trial.

CSA in Europe > Dutch prosecutors want only four years for big-time sextortionist; Europol task force IDs 18 CSAM victims

 

Prosecutors seek 4 years for Arnhem man, 22, accused of large-scale sextortion

Prosecutors have charged a 22-year-old man from Arnhem with large-scale sextortion, Public Prosecution Service (OM) reports. According to the prosecutors, the man made thousands of euros by threatening “vulnerable people” with releasing their nudes, videos, or sexual messages. He can reportedly be linked to at least 11 victims, but prosecutors believe there are more. In three other cases of attempted sextortion, no money was transferred to the suspect.

“This is a serious and despicable crime with far-reaching consequences," the OM said. The prosecutors are seeking a four-year sentence with one year suspended. It also aims at recovering more than 50,000 euros from the suspects.

They should be seeking 4 years for each victim, not 4 months.

The man’s method always stayed pretty much the same, the prosecutors said. He found the victims on dating sites, after which he would move the chat to WhatsApp. He then steered the conversation in a sexual direction, asking the victims about nude pictures.

“Almost immediately after receiving the nude images, the tone of the conversation changed, and the blackmail began,” the OM said. “If payment was not made at once, victims were told they would be exposed to family, friends, colleagues, and employers.”

The evidence in the case reportedly involves chat messages, phone records, and bank data. According to the prosecutors, the same threats, bank accounts, and dating profiles were used in the cases. The suspects had also allegedly searched online for "blackmailing," penalties for extortion, and dating websites.

Additionally, he was reportedly identified on a video where a man is seen withdrawing cash from ATMs shortly after the victims transferred the money.

“Out of fear of exposure and shame - which is entirely understandable - many people do not report the crime,” the prosecutor said. “About four times as much money was deposited into account under the suspect’s control. That suggests there may have been four times as many victims."

The prosecutors said they treated the suspect’s attitude during the proceeding as an aggravating factor. According to the OM, the man has taken no responsibility for his calculating actions and has shown no remorse. He also has a lengthy criminal record and was still on probation from an earlier sentence at the time.

Two-week Europol task force identifies 18 sexually abused children worldwide

Experts from 28 countries joined forces in The Hague to locate victims of child sexual exploitation

The 19th edition of Europol’s Victim Identification Task Force (VIDTF) has tentatively identified 18 children, marking another remarkable step in the fight against child sexual exploitation. From 7 to 18 September 2026, experts from 28 countries, Europol, and INTERPOL gathered at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague, where they analysed 377 datasets, successfully geolocating 147 victims. In addition, five offenders based in several countries were also identified. 

The Victim Identification Task Force brings together experts from across the globe to combat child sexual exploitation. During the VIDTF, specialists analyse data, images, videos, and intelligence to identify clues that may help identify victims and offenders, or at least help determine the country where the material likely originated.

Europol has been hosting VIDTFs since 2014. During that time, the task forces have overall resulted in:

• 1 260 identified victims;
• 348 apprehended offenders;
• 8 642 datasets/series analysed;
• 2 608 leads sent.

Over a hundred children identified in 2025

Using Europol’s Image and Video Analysis System (IVAS), experts examine and categorise material into series, cross-check data against Europol’s systems to create and enrich intelligence packages, and disseminate actionable leads to national and international partners.

Europol hosts VIDTFs twice a year. During one such event held in 2025, an expert arrived at Europol’s headquarters with a substantial amount of data from a national case, which she shared with her colleagues on the task force. By cross-checking information and tracing specific details, over a hundred children, whom an offender had been grooming, were fully identified and safeguarded. “Most of them were girls, the youngest being only nine years old,” states the expert, who has been part of Europol’s VIDTF for over 10 years. 

A successful format replicated beyond Europol’s HQ

Specialists come from as far as New Zealand: "Having all these contacts is very rewarding, especially for me, because I usually work with people from Australia, America, and Asia - but not Europe," says the officer representing New Zealand.

"The benefit of coming to Europol for the VIDTF is that there are around 30 officers from countries all around the world sitting in the same room. Getting feedback on cases we have worked on previously, live from the representatives of other countries, is valuable and encouraging”. 

This collaborative approach has proven highly effective, enabling experts to share knowledge, generate tangible results and facilitate rapid information exchange. As a result, Europol’s successful model for identifying victims of child sexual exploitation has become a benchmark for Member States. This year, Poland and Italy adopted the format.

More than 28 000 tips received since 2017

While VIDTFs take place twice a year, Europol has a permanent campaign addressed to citizens. Launched on 1 June 2017, the “Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object” campaign invites the public to help identify visual clues (such as objects, clothing, backgrounds, landscapes) in child sexual abuse material. 

Since 2017:

• More than 28 600 tips have been received; 
• 23 investigations have been initiated at national level;
• 35 victims and 9 offenders have been identified so far;
• A total of 319 objects have been published on Trace an Object website, of which 131 are linked to likely countries of production.

Participating countries and organisations in the VIDTF 19

Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, France, Greece, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Iceland, Moldova, New Zealand, Norway, Serbia, United Kingdom, Ukraine, United States, Europol, INTERPOL. 

With our pending status as an Associate Member of the EU, Canada should become a member of the VIDTF.

Note to media

Europol encourages you to use the term ‘child (sexual) abuse material’ and not ‘child pornography’ in your reporting.

The use of the term ‘child pornography’ helps child sex abusers as it indicates legitimacy and compliance on the part of the victim, and therefore legality on the part of the sex abuser. By using the phrase ‘child pornography’, it conjures up images of children posing in ‘provocative’ positions, rather than suffering horrific abuse. Every photograph or video captures an actual situation where a child has been abused. This is not pornography.

GenAI CSAM > AI needs to be reined in when it comes to child sex abuse material, lower courts won't touch it

 

Courts just allowed AI child sex abuse material because it’s ‘virtual.’ Who do you think it’s trained on?

By Tori Countryman

Published September 19, 2026 10:00am ET

The recent 7th Circuit opinion permitting in-home possession of AI-generated child sexual abuse material raises many questions regarding the relationship between protected speech and generative AI.

While most people would say CSAM of any child — real or virtual — should be illegal, the decision relies on precedent from the 2002 Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition decision, holding that computer-generated CSAM, possessed in one’s own home, does not violate the First Amendment. But that decision did not contemplate the present realities and may not be applicable to today’s AI-generated CSAM.

Here’s why: On one hand, the judiciary holds in high regard First Amendment jurisprudence and views cases — including those involving new technology — through the lens of preserving what the courts have historically said is “free speech.” On the other hand, new unregulated technology, including GenAI, is forcing a reckoning on the boundaries of what we agree the First Amendment protects. Amid the increasingly narrow hair-splitting reasoning courts are using, it’s clear that the question courts are addressing today regarding AI-generated CSAM is not the same one they were addressing 25 years ago.

Unrestrained AI technology has brought us to a dark place: the evils of child sexual abuse material and the horrors of unregulated AI have merged. CSAM and generated CSAM are no longer wholly distinct categories, as some AI models have been trained on real sexual abuse images of children. The AI model that Steven Anderegg — the defendant in the 7th Circuit case — used to create sexual images of prepubescent minors was trained on a dataset that contains billions of real images from hundreds of different domains. Virtual CSAM is no longer a cartoon or depiction that no one could reasonably mistake for a child. The 7th Circuit Court got this right, recognizing that, “GenAI models can render images depicting the abuse of virtual children that are virtually indistinguishable from those depicting the abuse of actual children.”

This is happening with other artificial intelligence image generators, too. In a case filed this week, a victim of both CSAM and AI-generated CSAM sued xAI, alleging in part that she believes, “Grok has been trained on both the initial set of images that have haunted her for more than 20 years and the more recent AI-generated ones.”

Where CSAM ends and AI-generated CSAM begins is no longer a bright line, and courts are going to have to wrestle with what this means for the future of free speech. The 7th Circuit Court acknowledges this tension, noting the “relentless advancement in artificial intelligence models” requires lines to be drawn, but simultaneously tries to distance lower courts from the battlefront, saying, “we are not free to redraw them ourselves.”

But courts can contribute to a solution by acknowledging that modern technology changes the very battlefield on which lines are drawn. The existence of new technology means the questions posed in Ashcroft about CSAM possession are not the same questions being posed today.

Because “the Supreme Court left open the door for the government to make a ‘significantly stronger, more direct connection’ between virtual CSAM and child abuse,” as the 7th Circuit notes, there is a path forward to develop the argument that AI-generated CSAM relies on real CSAM and non-abuse images of real children. This argument should yield a different result from the arguments asserted in Ashcroft, where the court found generated CSAM was protected because the “materials at issue did not involve actual children.” This suggests that the analysis changes when actual children are involved. The question now becomes: Does First Amendment protection extend to AI-generated images created by training on real CSAM of real children?

Perhaps the government needs to clearly advance a factual theory that demonstrates how AI-generated CSAM is not wholly distinct from CSAM depicting real children to give the courts a new argument to latch onto. And courts should respond accordingly, consistent with case law that holds in high regard the state’s compelling interest in “protecting the physical and psychological well-being of minors and preventing the sexual exploitation and abuse of children,” while preserving free speech. (U.S. v. Anderegg, at 8.)

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation notes the very real harms to children from AI-generated CSAM, noting that it “can be used as a grooming tool by predators, and NCMEC reports that children and their families have been sextorted through predators using AI-generated CSAM.” 

CHILD SAFETY PAYS: META PAID $17 BILLION FOR EXPLOITING CHILDREN — AND MADE $130 BILLION DOING IT

And the horrific reality is that AI-generated CSAM will increase the demand for more of this content, putting all children at risk. 

The Supreme Court must weigh in on this issue and find that AI-generated CSAM is not protected by the First Amendment. 

Tori Countryman is legal counsel at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, the leading national nonprofit organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation, such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking, and the public health harms of pornography. www.EndSexualExploitation.org

There needs to be a Congressional Inquiry into whether AI generators were actually trained on real CSAM. If so, serious charges need to be laid against those involved with real prison time as a consequence.

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CSA in the USA > 25 y/o man facing child rape charges in Tennessee; Another not so normal Normal man goes to prison; Oregon man gets 20 years for CSAM

 

Tennessee man arrested following child sexual abuse investigation

• Grace James
• Sep 19, 2026 Updated Sep 19, 2026
 

A 25-year-old Bradley County man is facing rape of a child charges following a child sexual abuse investigation, according to the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office.

Detectives arrested Zachary Rodriguez of Cleveland on Thursday, September 17.

The investigation included executing a search warrant.

The case was then presented to a Bradley County Grand Jury on September 16. The grand jury returned true bills charging Rodriguez with three counts of rape of a child and one count of exploitation of a minor by electronic means.

Detectives took Rodriguez into custody, and he is being held on a $200,000 bond, according to the sheriff’s office.

Man sentenced to 21 years for possessing child sex abuse material

• Kaitlyn Klepec
• Sep 19, 2026
• 0

BLOOMINGTON — A 27-year-old man will spend up to the next 21 years behind bars after he admitted to possessing child sex abuse material. 

Brad R. Carter of Normal pleaded guilty to 13 Class 2 felony counts for his offenses. He was initially charged with 21 counts, eight of which were Class X felonies for possession of imagery depicting the sexual abuse of children. 

Carter is the second man from Normal, Ill., in a week to make this blog.

Brad Carter was indicted on Wednesday for eight counts of dissemination of child pornography (Class X felony) and 13 counts of possession of child pornography (Class 2 felony).

MCLEAN COUNTY JAIL

On Sept. 11, Carter was sentenced after he submitted a guilty plea to all 13 of the Class 2 counts. The prosecution, represented by Assistant State's Attorney Daniel Guido, dismissed the remaining charges as part of the plea agreement. 

Investigation into Carter began after an instant messaging service made a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the uploading and sharing of videos believed to be child sex abuse material, police previously stated. 

The Bloomington Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division executed a search warrant at Carter's residence and discovered images of child sex abuse material during the course of the investigation, the prosecution said. 

Carter was indicted on July 13, 2023 on the 21 counts. 

The 21-year sentence was issued by Judge Jason Chambers, who heard arguments about the sentencing ranges for Carter. 

Under Illinois law, the sentencing options ranged from probation to three to seven years in prison per count, McLean County State's Attorney Erika Reynolds said in a news release. 

However, the state had to prove that these images were downloaded on separate dates in order for the sentences to run consecutively. 

In Carter's case, Chambers found there were seven different dates ranging across the 13 images, making the sentencing options probation or 21-49 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. 

While Guido asked for close to the maximum range, requesting 42 years in prison, Carter, represented by attorney Catharine O'Daniel of Chicago, asked for probation. 

Ultimately, the judge agreed a sentence to the Department of Corrections was appropriate in this case, ordering Carter serve three years per image download date, totaling 21 years, of which he must serve 50%. 

Following completion of this sentence, Carter will complete a minimum of three years of mandatory supervised release, which can range up to a life term of supervised release. 

In her post made to Facebook, Reynolds gave "a special thanks to the Bloomington Police Department, specifically Detective Paul Swanlund, for the hours of work he put into this case and to Assistant State's Attorney Daniel Guido, who pursues justice on behalf of the children within our community."

Medford sex offender caught with child sex abuse material: sentenced 20 years

• Kaleb Clark
• Sep 18, 2026 Updated 18 hrs ago
  

MEDFORD, Ore. - A Medford man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for possessing child sexual abuse materials.

David Lee Hurd pleaded guilty to eight counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the second degree on Sept. 14. Jackson County Circuit Court Pro Tem Judge Paul Moser sentenced Hurd to 20 years in prison, followed by two years of post-prison supervision upon release.

The case began when the Jackson County Sheriff's Office received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip indicated that child sexual abuse material images had been exchanged by a specific email address. Further investigation identified Hurd as the suspect.

On Aug. 2, 2023, the Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Taskforce, Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force and patrol deputies from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office searched Hurd's house. Hurd admitted to investigators that he owned several devices where he saved child sexual abuse material images for his own viewing. Hurd also made statements that he was attracted to girls between ages eight and 10.

Investigators served a search warrant on Hurd's electronic devices. A forensic examination discovered over 1,000 images of child sexual abuse material stored on those devices.

Hurd was a registered sex offender prior to these offenses. He previously served a prison sentence in 1994 for sex offenses against a child and again in 2011 for possession of child sexual abuse material images.

The District Attorney's Office thanked the Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Taskforce and Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force for their work on this investigation and for helping bring Hurd to justice.