A pastor and school employee in Washington state has been arrested under suspicion of possessing child sex abuse material, including AI-generated content. Kevin Johnson, 54, had been serving as a pastor at Impact Church in Pasco and as a paraeducator at Cottonwood Elementary School in Kennewick.
Editor’s note: This article contains information about child sex abuse that some readers might find disturbing and/or triggering.
Investigators have identified at least two victims.
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According to a Richland Police Department press release, an investigation began when the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a report that CSAM had been “uploaded to an online platform.”
Investigators determined that the images were created using generative AI. The images were altered versions of pictures depicting a real child, who was between the ages of 7-12. The images were linked to an account belonging to Johnson. Police also said that Johnson was in possession of other CSAM.
On April 6, Johnson was taken into custody while at Cottonwood Elementary School.
Johnson is accused of using photos of a child from social media and using AI to turn them into CSAM.
In court, prosecutors said, “Law enforcement is still working on processing through the defendant’s devices, but as of this time have identified an additional victim of which the defendant had generated AI child sexual abuse material.”
Johnson has been charged with four felony counts of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He has pleaded not guilty.
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Johnson remains in custody. Bail has been set at $250,000. Prosecutors sought a high bail amount in light of the nature of Johnson’s alleged crimes.
