A predator used her 12-year-old face to make porn. She helped pass a law to make that a crime
Last year, Kaylin Hayman walked into a Pittsburgh court to testify against a man she’d never met who had used her face to make pornographic pictures with artificial intelligence technology.
Kaylin, 16, is a child actress who starred in the Disney show Just Roll With It from 2019 to 2021. The perpetrator, a 57-year-old man named James Smelko, had targeted her because of her public profile. She is one of about 40 of his victims, all of them child actors. In one of the images of Kaylin submitted into evidence at the trial, Smelko used her face from a photo posted on Instagram when she was 12, working on set, and superimposed it onto the naked body of someone else.
“I’ve had my fair share of crying uncontrollably because I don’t understand how some people are so evil,” she tells the Guardian in an interview. “I can never really wrap my head around that.”
Kaylin lives in Ventura, California, and Smelko was based in Pennsylvania when he committed these crimes against her. She was shocked when she learned her case could only be brought to trial because it was an interstate crime. Possessing depictions of child sexual abuse is criminalized under US federal law. But under California state laws, it wasn’t considered illegal.
Kaylin turned her horror into action. This year, she became a staunch public advocate in support of a new California bill, AB 1831, that expands the scope of existing laws against child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to include images and videos that are digitally altered or generated via AI. In June, she testified in support of the bill at the state capitol in Sacramento.
“I talked about how I felt violated and that I was absolutely appalled that this wasn’t already a crime in California,” says Kaylin. “California is such a huge part of the acting industry, and there are so many kids who were not protected from this crime.”
At the end of September, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, signed the measure into law. Child predators creating such material can face imprisonment and fines of up to $100,000 in the state.
While the new law focuses on AI in the hands of child predators, other factors in Kaylin’s life put her at risk of encountering Smelko or those like him, according to her and her parents, Mark and Shalene Hayman.
For much more on this story please visit the Guardian at:
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New lawsuit alleges child sexual abuse
of WWE 'ring boys' in Maryland
BALTIMORE (AP) - A new lawsuit accuses the WWE and its founders of fostering a culture of sexual abuse within the organization and looking the other way while a longtime ringside announcer preyed on young men he hired as "ring boys.
The suit was filed Wednesday in Maryland, where a recent law change eliminated the state's statute of limitations for child sex abuse claims, opening the doors for victims to sue regardless of their age or how much time has passed.
The complaint alleges that Melvin Phillips, who died in 2012, would target young men from disadvantaged backgrounds and hire them as "ring boys" to help with the preparations for wrestling matches. Phillips would then assault them in his dressing room, hotels and even in the wrestlers' locker room, according to the complaint, which was filed on behalf of five men.
The abuse detailed in the lawsuit occurred over several years during Phillips' long tenure with the organization, which spanned from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Because of his death, Phillips is not among the named defendants.
Instead, the complaint targets World Wrestling Entertainment founders Vince and Linda McMahon, the husband and wife team who grew the organization into the powerhouse it is today. The couple was well aware of Phillips' brazen misconduct but did little to stop him, according to the complaint.
"This wasn't an isolated instance," said attorney Greg Gutzler, who represents the five unnamed plaintiffs. "There was a culture of abuse and it started at the top."
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court, the abuse occurred in several states, including Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs were all between 13 and 15 when they met Phillips.
Gutzler said the plaintiffs finally found the strength to come forward and sue after Vince McMahon resigned from WWE's parent company TKO Group Holdings earlier this year amid his own sexual misconduct scandal. He resigned in January after a woman who previously worked for WWE filed a federal lawsuit accusing him of serious misconduct, including offering her to a star wrestler for sex and distributing pornographic pictures and videos of her. McMahon had already stepped down as WWE's CEO in 2022 during an investigation into allegations that match those in the federal lawsuit.
An attorney representing McMahon, Jessica Rosenberg, denied the latest abuse allegations contained in Wednesday's complaint. In a written statement, she referenced New York Post reporting from the early '90s, saying the recent lawsuit asserts "these same false claims."
"We will vigorously defend Mr. McMahon and are confident the court will find that these claims are untrue and unfounded," the statement read.
Emails were sent to Linda McMahon and her organization seeking comment.
Attorneys for the other defendants aren't yet listed in online court records. Emails seeking comment were sent to WWE and TKO Group Holdings.
McMahon was the leader and most recognizable face at WWE for decades. When he purchased what was then the World Wrestling Federation from his father in 1982, wrestling matches took place at small venues and appeared on local cable channels. WWE matches are now held in professional sports stadiums, and the organization has a sizable overseas following.
WWE merged last April with the company that runs Ultimate Fighting Championship to create the $21.4 billion sports entertainment company TKO Group Holdings.
The lawsuit alleges that WWE leaders "gave Phillips free rein to use his highly public WWE personality and image to entice local kids," allowing them to meet famous wrestlers and attend the popular events.
It alleges the McMahons fired Phillips in 1988 because of abuse allegations surfacing around that time, but they rehired him six weeks later.
Linda McMahon, who stepped down as the company's chief executive in 2009, later led the Small Business Administration under former President Donald Trump.
The lawsuit was filed under a Maryland law that went into effect last year after state lawmakers voted to eliminate the statute of limitations for such cases. Before the change, people in Maryland who were sexually abused as children could bring lawsuits up until they turned 38.
Lawmakers approved the change with the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal in mind after a scathing investigative report revealed the scope of the problem within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. But it opened the door for legal action against a range of other entities, including the state's juvenile justice agency.
However, the future of these claims is uncertain because the constitutionality of the law is currently being decided by the Supreme Court of Maryland.
Announcer responds to sexual abuse allegations
Former Detroit Tigers player and current broadcaster Craig Monroe has been absent from broadcasts since June 9th.
Monroe was recently accused of sexually assaulting a woman when she was a minor, and according to The Athletic, those allegations are why he’s not been seen on Bally Sports Detroit broadcasts in over three weeks.
On June 11, a woman took to social media to accuse Monroe of sex crimes, which allegedly began when he was a minor league baseball player. The accusations, which were later shared on X, include rape and child molestation. The woman also accused Monroe of turning her into a prostitute.
Bally Sports Detroit and the Tigers reacted quickly upon learning of the accusations against Monroe, reports The Athletic.
Monroe, technically a freelance employee, was immediately sent home from the ballpark and removed from the team’s broadcast schedule, the source said.
According to Fox 2 Detroit and the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Florida authorities are currently investigating these allegations against Monroe.
In response to the allegations, Awful Announcing previously contacted Monroe, the Detroit Tigers, and Bally Sports Detroit for comment. Monroe has not responded to the request. The Tigers and Bally Sports Detroit offered the following joint statement:
“Bally Sports Detroit and the Tigers are aware of the social media allegations and take them seriously. As previously stated, Mr. Monroe has not been on the broadcast schedule and that will continue on an indefinite basis. We will have no further comment and any questions should be directed to Mr. Monroe,” a spokesperson for Bally Sports Detroit and the Tigers wrote to Awful Announcing.
Despite efforts to contact Monroe directly, his legal team issued a statement to Fox 2 Detroit denying all allegations against him. While Monroe has remained silent on the matter, publicly and privately, this statement marks his representation’s first response.
In a statement provided by Michael Manley of Manley & Manley on Tuesday, Monroe “vehemently” denied allegations of sexual abuse and assault that appeared on social media last month.
“We will cooperate with law enforcement and are confident that once this case is fully investigated, Craig will be cleared of any wrongdoing,” according to the attorney’s statement. “Craig Monroe takes allegations of this nature very seriously and would never commit or condone such despicable conduct. He and his family are shocked by these allegations and offer his accuser forgiveness and grace. We trust that law enforcement will uncover the truth regarding her background and motivations.”
A nine-year MLB veteran, Monroe, transitioned into broadcasting for the Tigers in 2012. He was slated to be their lead TV analyst for the 2024 season on Bally Sports Detroit. However, his absence from the booth since June 9 prompted a joint statement from Bally Sports Detroit and the Tigers on June 21. The statement directed any questions about Monroe’s hiatus to him.
We now know his indefinite hiatus is directly related to these allegations.
PSA: If you or anyone you know is in need, the National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at 1-800-656-4673.
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