Paedophile Hugh Nelson who made AI child abuse images from real pictures sent to him jailed for 18 years in ‘deeply horrifying’ landmark case
A paedophile who made thousands of pounds by creating child abuse images using AI and real pictures of children has been jailed for 18 years in a landmark case.
Hugh Nelson used a 3D character generator to turn ordinary, non-explicit pictures of children into child abuse images, before selling them on an internet forum used by artists.
People who knew the children in the real world would send the 27-year-old images of them.
Nelson, from Bolton, would then charge his network of paedophiles £80 for a new “character”. After that, it was £10 per image to animate them in different, explicit positions.
Over an 18-month period, Nelson admits he made around £5,000 from selling these images.
In some cases, Nelson then went on to encourage his clients to rape and sexually assault the children, the court heard.
In a police interview, the paedophile told officers: “A lot of my characters were commissioned by their dads, uncles, family friends.”
Jeanette Smith, a specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said: “This is one of the first cases of its kind that demonstrates a link between people like Nelson, who are creating computer-generated images using technology, and the real-life offending that goes on behind that.”
A number of paedophiles have been sent to prison recently for using AI to create child abuse images.
In Nelson’s case, however, police were able to link the images he generated to real children for the first time.
Nelson, who had no previous convictions, was arrested at his family home in Egerton, Bolton, in June last year and told police he had a sexual interest mainly in girls aged about 12.
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May: AI used to make child abuse images
The children who he was sent pictures of were all based abroad, in France, Italy and the United States.
Police officers in those countries have been passed information about Nelson’s offending, and more arrests have been made.
Although this is the first time someone has been prosecuted for creating this kind of child abuse imagery, the authorities are preparing for many more.
Inside the Internet Watch Foundation in Cambridge, dozens of analysts scour the internet every day, hunting down child abuse images and removing them from the internet.
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In the last six months, they’ve seen more child abuse images made using AI than they did all of last year.
Dan Sexton, the charity’s chief technical officer, said: “Our work has always been difficult anyway.
“[But] we’ve never had to deal with the possibility that someone could download some software on their computer and create an infinite amount of new images.
“They use as many as they can until the hard drives fill up. That’s a new type of harm that which we have not been prepared for.”
The Internet Watch Foundation tackles child sexual abuse material online
One of the charity’s analysts, known only as Jeff when he’s at work to protect his identity, said he was worried about how convincing AI imagery is becoming.
“We’re reaching the point now where even a trained analyst would struggle to see whether it was real or not,” he said.
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In August, Nelson pleaded guilty at Bolton Crown Court to 11 offences, including three counts of encouraging the rape of a child under 13, one count of attempting to incite a boy under 16 to engage in a sexual act, three counts each of the distribution and making of indecent images, and one count of possessing prohibited images.
At an earlier court appearance in July 2023, he also pleaded guilty to four counts of distributing indecent pseudo photographs of children and one of publishing an obscene article.
Detective Constable Carly Baines, from Greater Manchester Police, said the case was “deeply horrifying”.
She added: “It became clear to us after extensive trawls of his many devices by digital forensic experts however, that his behaviour went far beyond what clearly he was seeing as a ‘business opportunity’.
“Not only was he creating and selling these images, but he was engaging in depraved sexualised chat online about children and going as far as to encourage people interested in his online content to commit contact offences such as rape against children they knew or were related to.”
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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