Central Scotland: man jailed after court hears he used a Telegram AI 'nudify' bot to make indecent pseudo-images of a teenage girl and shared one
According to court reports by STV News, a prosecutor told a sheriff court in central Scotland that police who searched a man's tablet found a chat between him and an artificial intelligence bot on Telegram that generates nude pictures from images of real people. The prosecutor said he used the bot to generate 12 indecent pseudo-images of a female child, identified as a teenage girl known to him, and that on 14 October 2025 one of the images was distributed between him and other users of an anonymous chat app. He pleaded guilty in August 2026 to downloading and distributing child sex abuse images, and on 21 October 2026 the sheriff jailed him for 12 months and placed him on the sex offenders' register for ten years.
- AI system
- Unidentified image tool
- Occurred
- 14 Oct 2025
- Reported
- 26 August 2026
- Event location
- United Kingdom
- What the AI did
- Depicted or impersonated the person
- Reported harm
- Exploitation or Abuse
- Whose AI use
- Someone else’s AI use
- Setting
- Privacy · Justice
- Evidence
- AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account
- 4 claims: 4 reported. 4 open questions
- People reported harmed
- 1 person
AI system as recorded: An artificial intelligence bot on the Telegram app that generates nude pictures from images of real people, according to the prosecution account reported by STV News (bot not named)
What Happened
The images. At the man's plea hearing, as reported by STV News on 26 August 2026, the prosecutor said police received information about his social media account in October 2025 and seized a tablet computer from his home under a search warrant. Police found a chat on the tablet's Telegram app between him and an artificial intelligence bot that generates nude pictures from images of real people. The prosecutor said he used the program to generate 12 indecent pseudo-images of a female child, identified as a teenage girl known to him. On 14 October 2025 one of the images, which police assessed as Category C, was distributed between him and other users of an app called AnonChat.
Other material. The tablet also held 34 child sex abuse images and one video featuring boys and girls aged approximately ten to 15. The reports do not say whether any of that material was AI-generated.
Court outcome. He pleaded guilty to downloading and distributing child sex abuse images. On 21 October 2026 the sheriff jailed him for 12 months and placed him on the sex offenders' register for ten years. The reports do not describe the girl's reaction or whether she learned of the images.
Reported harm
According to the prosecution account reported by STV News, an AI bot on Telegram generated 12 indecent pseudo-images of a teenage girl at the man's request, and one was shared with other users of an anonymous chat app.
Outcome
ResolvedSTV News reports that the man pleaded guilty in August 2026 to downloading and distributing child sex abuse images. On 21 October 2026 the sheriff imposed a 12-month jail term and placed him on the sex offenders' register for ten years, telling him there was no alternative to a custodial sentence.
What remains unknown
- Which Telegram bot generated the images.
- When the 12 pseudo-images were generated.
- Whether the girl or her family learned of the images and what effect on her is reported.
- Whether any of the other 34 images or the video found on the tablet were AI-generated.
What the evidence supports
AI involvement: reported. The prosecutor told the court that police found a chat on the man's tablet between him and an artificial intelligence bot on Telegram that generates nude pictures from images of real people, and that he used the program to generate 12 indecent pseudo-images of a female child, identified as a teenage girl known to him. The generated images depict the girl (depicted_or_impersonated), and one was distributed to other users of an anonymous chat app. The bot is not named.
4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean
Reported Police found a chat on the man's tablet between him and an artificial intelligence bot on Telegram that generates nude pictures from images of real people; he used it to generate 12 indecent pseudo-images of a female child, identified as a teenage girl known to him.
Causal attribution. The prosecutor's account at the plea hearing, relayed by STV from one news-agency chain; the man pleaded guilty to downloading and distributing child sex abuse images. The bot is not named.
- news.stv.tv(opens in new tab) supports · English
'an artificial intelligence bot on the Telegram app, which generates nude pictures from images of real people.' ... 'used this program to generate 12 indecent pseudo-images of a female child'
- news.stv.tv(opens in new tab) supports · English
'an artificial intelligence bot on the Telegram app, which generates nude pictures from images of real people.' ... 'used the program to generate 12 indecent pseudo-images of a female child.' ... 'This child was identified as a teenage girl'
Reported On 14 October 2025 one of the images of the child, which police assessed as Category C, was distributed between the man and other users of an app called AnonChat.
Causal attribution. The prosecutor's account at the plea hearing, relayed by STV from one news-agency chain.
- news.stv.tv(opens in new tab) supports · English
'On October 14, 2025, one of the images of the child – which police assessed as a Category C – was distributed between'
- news.stv.tv(opens in new tab) supports · English
'On October 14, 2025, one of the images of the child – which police assessed as a Category C – was distributed between'
Reported The tablet also held 34 child sex abuse images and one video featuring boys and girls aged approximately ten to 15; the reports do not say whether this material was AI-generated.
Causal attribution. none
- news.stv.tv(opens in new tab) supports · English
'34 child sex abuse images and one video were found on it.' ... 'The material featured boys and girls aged approximately ten to 15 years old.'
Reported The man pleaded guilty to downloading and distributing child sex abuse images; on 21 October 2026 the sheriff imposed a 12-month jail term and placed him on the sex offenders' register for ten years.
Causal attribution. none
- news.stv.tv(opens in new tab) supports · English
'pleaded guilty to downloading and distributing child sex abuse images.'
- news.stv.tv(opens in new tab) supports · English
'there was “no alternative” to a custodial sentence.' ... 'on the sex offenders’ register for ten years in addition to imposing the 12-month jail term.'
Sources
2 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.
- STV News, 21 October 2026: Dad jailed for using 'nudify' bot to make and share AI image of schoolgirl(opens in new tab)
s1 · news.stv.tv · News report · English · Inspected · 21 October 2026 · Shares an underlying account with another listed source · Primary
- STV News, 26 August 2026: Man shared fake AI image of naked schoolgirl in encrypted chat(opens in new tab)
s2 · news.stv.tv · News report · English · Inspected · Shares an underlying account with another listed source
How the sources were read, and where the events happened
Read in English on 2026-10-22 (HTTP 200). STV News court report credited to Central Scotland News Agency, published 21 October 2026 (sentencing hearing). Applies to s1.
Read in English on 2026-10-22 (HTTP 200). STV News court report credited to Central Scotland News Agency, published 26 August 2026 (plea hearing, prosecutor quoted). Applies to s2.
Event countries: United Kingdom. Affected-person countries: United Kingdom. Court countries: United Kingdom.
The prosecution and sentencing took place at a sheriff court in central Scotland, and police searched the man's home there (both STV reports). The girl is described as known to him; no source places her elsewhere. The event country rests on the police search and investigation in Scotland reported in both sources.
Reviewed for publication 2026-10-22: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): the prosecution account reported from both hearings says police found the man's chat with a Telegram AI bot that generates nude pictures from images of real people, and that the bot produced 12 indecent pseudo-images of an identified teenage girl, one of which was shared; he pleaded guilty and was jailed. Neither the man nor the girl is named, and the girl's age and the man's town are omitted.
People described
A teenage girl known to the man, whose images the bot turned into indecent pseudo-images; one was shared with other users of an anonymous chat app
People reported harmed in this case
1 person
0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed
One person: the teenage girl depicted in the 12 generated pseudo-images. The children in the 34 other images and one video are not counted because no source says that material was AI-generated; the convicted man is not counted as harmed.
Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.
Tags
Cite this case
Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.
APA
NOPE. (2026). Central Scotland: man jailed after court hears he used a Telegram AI 'nudify' bot to make indecent pseudo-images of a teenage girl and shared one. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-central-scotland-man-jailed-after-using-telegram-ai-nudify-bot-to-make-indecent-images-of-teenage-girl
BibTeX
@misc{2025_central_scotland_man_jailed_after_using_telegram_ai_nudify_bot_to_make_indecent_images_of_teenage_girl,
title = {Central Scotland: man jailed after court hears he used a Telegram AI 'nudify' bot to make indecent pseudo-images of a teenage girl and shared one},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {AI incidents},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-central-scotland-man-jailed-after-using-telegram-ai-nudify-bot-to-make-indecent-images-of-teenage-girl}
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