October 1, 2026
NASHVILLE (BP) – A federal appeals court’s affirmation of an earlier dismissal of an AI-generated child pornography charge against a Wisconsin man came with an admission that laws are lagging in the proper monitoring of generative AI.
“We now live in an age where GenAI models can render images depicting the abuse of virtual children that are virtually indistinguishable from those depicting the abuse of actual children,” wrote U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Z. Lee in his opinion.
Steve Anderegg was 42 years old in May 2024 when he was charged with four counts related to producing, distributing, and possessing child abuse material created from the generative AI software Stable Diffusion. The resultant images depicted minors under the age of 16 in sexually explicit acts.
An initial District Court decision permitted the charges of distribution, transfer to a minor, and production to move forward. The same judge, though, determined that possession of “virtual child pornography” in one’s home was protected by the First Amendment.
The case of Stanley v. Georgia (1969) established the rights of individuals to privately observe obscene materials in their home. Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002) stated that federal bans on materials that “appear to be” or “convey” child sexual abuse where no actual children are depicted were “overbroad” and thus are protected under the First Amendment.
Lee cited the “evolving technology” that “complicates the lines” of those precedents.
“Indeed, in Free Speech Coalition, the Supreme Court addressed the scope of First Amendment protections for virtual [Child Sexual Abuse Material], but that was nearly twenty-five years ago, and the image-generation technology available today was likely unimaginable back then,” he said.
“Given the relentless advancement in artificial intelligence models, we have some concerns about the lines these cases draw, but we are not free to redraw them ourselves.”
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Evan Lenow said intent lies at the center of the discussion.
“There are few things more revolting than the production of sexually explicit material involving children,” he told Baptist Press. “With the advent of generative artificial intelligence, a new front has been opened in the battle against this threat to human dignity and societal decency.
“While children may not have been physically harmed, this sort of technological abuse has far-reaching and heinous consequences, resulting in the mass exploitation of children using AI,” said Lenow.
“This recent case in Wisconsin highlights that the time is now for action to prohibit the production of sexually explicit materials using AI. It should not matter whether these images are representations of real individuals or simply computer-generated. The fact is that those who produce and view such images are doing so with the intent of believing they are real,” he said.
In October 2023, Meta Platforms reported a possible transmission of Child Sexual Abuse Material by an Instagram user in a direct message to the CyberTipline of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The direct message contained what appeared to be AI-generated images of a young male. Law enforcement linked the account to Anderegg, whose resume indicated he was a software engineer with knowledge of AI models.
“Despite ruling that the images are protected free speech based on Supreme Court precedents, even the judge recognizes that something needs to change,” said Lenow.
“Christians should unite around opposing this use of artificial intelligence and call on judges and lawmakers to act swiftly to protect children and society.”
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This article appeared in Baptist Press.
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