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High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

Southern Alberta girls' football coach pleads guilty over AI-made sexualised images of some of his players; a victim describes the harm at sentencing

A girls' football coach in southern Alberta pleaded guilty to child sexual exploitation offences after using AI to create sexualised images of some of his players, according to the Canadian Press report of his sentencing hearing in October 2026. Alberta's police child-exploitation unit (ALERT) had charged him in July 2025, alleging that he used AI to manipulate and sexualise images of underage girls and saying the images were shared on the Kik messaging app; it said the investigation dated back to November 2024. At the hearing the prosecutor read agreed facts saying he and a friend had shared the images, and one victim told the court of humiliation, fear and continuing worry that her image is still circulating. The Crown sought two years in prison and the defence a community sentence; no sentence had been reported at review.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
18 July 2025
Event location
Canada
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or AbusePsychological Distress
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Privacy · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts
6 claims: 6 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 1 person

AI system as recorded: An unidentified AI tool that police say the coach used to manipulate and sexualise photos of underage girls, some of them his players

What Happened

The charges. In July 2025 Alberta's police child-exploitation unit (ALERT) arrested a junior girls' football coach with help from the local police service. ALERT alleged that he used AI to manipulate and sexualise images of underage girls and that the images were shared on the Kik messaging app. It said its investigation dated back to November 2024 and that it was working to identify possible victims; a spokesperson said it was probably one of the first such cases in the province.

The plea. The coach later pleaded guilty to making, printing or publishing child pornography, possessing child sexual abuse material and transmitting an intimate image without consent. At the sentencing hearing the prosecutor read agreed facts saying he and a longtime friend had shared the images and exchanged lewd comments about the girls.

The harm. One victim told the court the image carried her face and name, that the humiliation and fear were real, and that she wonders every day whether it is still being viewed.

Sentencing. The Crown asked for two years in prison and three years' probation. Defence counsel asked for a community sentence, citing his lack of a record and his guilty plea, and argued that AI-made material differs from real material. The sentence had not been reported at review.

Reported harm

Players' photos were turned into sexualised AI images that the coach shared; a victim told the court of humiliation, fear and continuing worry that the image is still circulating.

Outcome

Ongoing

ALERT's Internet Child Exploitation unit arrested the coach in July 2025 and charged him with making, distributing, possessing and accessing child pornography and transmitting an intimate image without consent; release conditions barred him from coaching anyone under 18. He later pleaded guilty to making, printing or publishing child pornography, possessing child sexual abuse material and transmitting an intimate image without consent. At the sentencing hearing (reported 30 Oct 2026) the Crown sought two years in prison and three years' probation and the defence a community sentence. The case was due back in court on 6 November 2026 to set a sentencing date; no sentence had been reported when this record was reviewed.

What remains unknown

  • When the images were made and how many girls were depicted.
  • Which AI tool was used.
  • The sentence, which had not been reported at review.
  • How widely the images circulated beyond the coach and his friend.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. ALERT, the investigating police unit, said when charging him that the coach used AI to manipulate and sexualise images of underage girls; at the October 2026 sentencing hearing the Canadian Press reports that he used AI to create sexualised images of some of his players, he had pleaded guilty, and his own counsel argued that AI-made material differs from real material. The AI-generated images depicting the girls are the harm (depicted_or_impersonated). The tool is not named.

6 claims: 6 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported In July 2025 the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) said a junior girls' football coach had been charged with child sexual exploitation offences and alleged that he used AI to manipulate and sexualise images of underage girls; ALERT said the images were shared on the Kik messaging app.

Causal attribution. Police allegation at the time of charge, relayed by two outlets from one ALERT announcement.

  • cbc.ca(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The suspect was allegedly using AI to manipulate and sexualize images of underage girls, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) said on Friday.'; 'ALERT said the images were shared using the instant messaging app Kik Messenger.'
  • globalnews.ca(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Police allege the accused used AI to manipulate and sexualize photos of underage girls.'
Reported ALERT said its investigation dated back to November 2024 and that the suspect, arrested in July 2025, had only recently been identified.

Causal attribution. Police account of the investigation timeline; the dates on which the images were made are not reported.

  • cbc.ca(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'arrested the suspect on Wednesday'; 'The investigation dates back to last November, but ALERT said the suspect facing charges was only recently identified.'
  • globalnews.ca(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'While the investigation dates back to November 2024, ALERT said the accused was only recently identified as the suspect.'
Reported At a sentencing hearing in October 2026 the coach, who the Canadian Press reports used AI to create sexualised images of some of his players, had pleaded guilty to making, printing or publishing child pornography, possessing child sexual abuse material and transmitting an intimate image without consent.

Causal attribution. Court report of the pleas; the AI use is stated by the Canadian Press from the hearing, where the agreed statement of facts was read.

  • cbc.ca(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'A girls' football coach who used artificial intelligence to create sexualized images of some of his players hung his head in court Friday'; 'He eventually pleaded guilty to making, printing or publishing pornography as well as possessing child pornography'; 'as well as transmitting an intimate image without consent.'
Reported The prosecutor read the agreed statement of facts, which said the coach and a longtime friend had been sharing the images and exchanging lewd comments about the girls.

Causal attribution. Agreed facts as read in court and reported by the Canadian Press.

  • cbc.ca(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'read the agreed statement of facts into the record'; 'and a longtime friend had been sharing the images. They exchanged lewd comments about the girls'
Reported One of the victims told the court that the image used her face and name, that the humiliation and fear were real and that she wonders every day whether the image is still circulating.

Causal attribution. A victim's impact statement as quoted in the court report.

  • cbc.ca(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'It was my face; it was my name. It was me,'; 'The humiliation is real. The fear is real. The betrayal is real. I felt sick. I felt ashamed of something I didn't do.'; 'Every day I wonder if my image is still out there.'
Reported The Crown asked for two years in prison and three years' probation; the defence asked for a sentence served in the community and argued that making such material with AI differs from making it with real images.

Causal attribution. The parties' sentencing positions as reported; no sentence had been reported when this record was reviewed.

  • cbc.ca(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Hayes urged the judge impose a sentence of two years in prison and three years' probation.'; 'asked the judge to consider a sentence to be served in the community'; 'At the end of the day, there's still a difference in the making of child pornography when it's AI versus when it's real,'

Sources

3 sources inspected, from 2 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-10-31 (HTTP 200). Canadian Press court report carried by CBC News, posted 30 Oct 2026, of the sentencing hearing: guilty pleas, the agreed statement of facts as read by the prosecutor, a victim impact statement, and the Crown and defence submissions. Applies to s1.

Read in English on 2026-10-31 (HTTP 200). CBC News report of 18 Jul 2025 on the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) announcement of the arrest and charges, quoting an ALERT spokesperson. Applies to s2.

Read in English on 2026-10-31 (HTTP 200). Global News report of 18 Jul 2025 on the same ALERT announcement; it depends on the same police release as s2. Applies to s3.

Event countries: Canada. Affected-person countries: Canada. Court countries: Canada.

ALERT, an Alberta police agency, investigated and its spokesperson described the material as created in Alberta; the victims are described as players on girls' teams he coached in southern Alberta; the case is before an Alberta court.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-31: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): investigating police said a girls' football coach used AI to sexualise images of underage girls, and the Canadian Press report of his sentencing hearing says he pleaded guilty after using AI to create sexualised images of some of his players, with a victim describing the harm. Two source chains were read: the 2025 police announcement and the 2026 court report. The coach and the victims are not identified.

People described

Underage girls, some of them players on teams he coached; one gave a victim impact statement in court

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

One victim who gave an impact statement is counted. The court report says it 'was one of three victim impact statements' but does not say who gave the other two, and says 'some of his players'; police said they were identifying victims. No total is reported, so the rest are unquantified.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#ai-sexualised-images#non-consensual-sexual-imagery#sports-coach#guilty-plea#sentencing#canada

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Southern Alberta girls' football coach pleads guilty over AI-made sexualised images of some of his players; a victim describes the harm at sentencing. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2024-southern-alberta-girls-football-coach-pleads-guilty-to-ai-sexualised-images-of-players-sentencing-hearing

BibTeX

@misc{2024_southern_alberta_girls_football_coach_pleads_guilty_to_ai_sexualised_images_of_players_sentencing_hearing,
  title = {Southern Alberta girls' football coach pleads guilty over AI-made sexualised images of some of his players; a victim describes the harm at sentencing},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2024-southern-alberta-girls-football-coach-pleads-guilty-to-ai-sexualised-images-of-players-sentencing-hearing}
}

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