Airman secretly took photos of children to make AI-generated porn in Alaska, feds say
A 27-year-old man stationed in Alaska with the U.S. Air Force is facing one count each of having and distributing child pornography, federal prosecutors said.
In a court document arguing he should stay behind bars ahead of trial, Airman Caleb French is accused of “surreptitiously” taking photos of kids in the community to turn into AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
French is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.
His attorney declined to comment in an email Dec. 24 to McClatchy News.
French was arrested Dec. 19 after a grand jury returned the two-count indictment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska said in a news release.
He’d been on officials’ radar since August, when an unnamed tipster reported him to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, saying French “wanted to commit sexual assaults against minors,” prosecutors wrote in the court document.
Authorities searched French’s home “and recovered multiple digital devices allegedly containing over a thousand images and videos depicting child sexual abuse,” prosecutors said.
In addition, they “discovered that French also allegedly sent the reporting individual a link to a video depicting (child sexual abuse) that same month,” according to prosecutors.
French’s online search history “indicated that he was searching for the closest child development centers to his current location,” prosecutors said, although he doesn’t have children.
Investigators later watched French at a reindeer farm, where he “appeared to gravitate toward a family with a young child and was purportedly seen panning with his phone in the direction of the child and may have surreptitiously photographed the child,” prosecutors said.
He left after the family did, according to prosecutors.
Another search of French’s “home, person and vehicle” in December “recovered additional devices that are being reviewed,” prosecutors said.
French faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, according to prosecutors.
This story was originally published December 24, 2024 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Airman secretly took photos of children to make AI-generated porn in Alaska, feds say."
.JPG)