A pastor and educator in southeastern Washington state was arrested after allegedly using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create sexually explicit images of real children.
Kevin Johnson, 54, has been charged with four felony counts of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He worked as a lead pastor of Impact Church in Pasco and as a paraeducator at Cottonwood Elementary School in nearby Kennewick, according to his Linkedin account.
Johnson pleaded not guilty during an April 10 court appearance, according to NonStop Local, a network of NBC affiliates in the area. During the hearing, prosecutors said they had identified two victims.
“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,” a prosecutor said at the hearing, NonStop Local reported.
The Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a law enforcement collaboration in southeast Washington led the investigation. Google had flagged suspected child sexual abuse material that had been uploaded to an online platform, according to the Richland Police Department.
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