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High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

Portland, Tennessee: a man who prosecutors say used AI to put children's faces onto sexual images and videos and traded them with a Canadian resident for real child sexual abuse material was sentenced to 30 years in Sumner County in September 2026

The Sumner County (18th Judicial District) District Attorney's Office said a 30-year-old Portland, Tennessee man was sentenced in Sumner County Criminal Court in September 2026 to 30 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction, to be served without probation, parole or early release. According to the prosecutors, he used artificial intelligence to place the faces of children onto images and videos of nude people and of people engaged in sexual acts, then exchanged the material with a Canadian resident for real child sexual abuse material. Canadian authorities found messages and material connected to him after arresting the person he was communicating with and alerted US law enforcement; a joint investigation by Portland police, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and the TBI led to his arrest in November 2025. He was also charged with tampering with evidence after investigators said he deleted material before officers entered his home to execute a search warrant. The children whose faces were used are not identified, their number is not reported, and the reports do not say which AI tool was used or which offences he was convicted of.

AI system
Unidentified image and video tool
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
25 September 2026
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or Abuse
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Justice · Privacy
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 1 underlying account
3 claims: 3 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

AI system as recorded: Unnamed AI tool or tools that prosecutors say he used to place children's faces onto sexual images and videos; the tool is not identified in any inspected report

What Happened

WSMV (25 September 2026), WKRN (25 September) and WZTV/FOX 17 (25 and 26 September) carry a release from Sumner County District Attorney General Thomas Dean. According to the release, investigators found that the 30-year-old Portland man had placed the faces of children onto images and videos of nude people and of people engaged in sexual acts, and that after creating the AI-generated material he exchanged it with a Canadian resident for real child sexual abuse material. The investigation began when Canadian law enforcement arrested the person he was communicating with, recovered messages and material connected to him and alerted US authorities; Portland police, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation took part, and he was arrested in November 2025. When officers executed a search warrant at his home, investigators said he had deleted some of the material before they entered, and he was also charged with tampering with evidence. Judge Dee David Gay imposed a 30-year sentence to be served without probation, parole or early release. Dean said the case represents 'a new front' in the fight against child sexual exploitation and that material 'real or generated by artificial intelligence' is a threat to all children. The reports do not identify the children whose faces were used, say how their images were obtained, name the AI tool, or state the offences of conviction.

Reported harm

Prosecutors say children's faces were placed onto AI-made sexual images and videos that were traded internationally in exchange for real child sexual abuse material (Sumner County DA release via WSMV, WKRN and WZTV). The children are not identified.

Outcome

Resolved

Sentenced in Sumner County Criminal Court by Judge Dee David Gay to 30 years in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction, which the district attorney's office says must be served without probation, parole or early release under Tennessee law (DA release via WSMV, WKRN, WZTV). A tampering-with-evidence charge was also brought. The offences of conviction and whether he pleaded guilty are not reported. WKRN and WZTV give the sentencing day as Thursday 24 September 2026; WSMV says Friday.

What remains unknown

  • Which offences he was convicted of, and whether by plea or at trial.
  • Which AI tool was used, where the children's images came from, and whether any depicted child has been identified or notified.
  • How many children's faces were used.
  • When the images were made and traded (the arrest was in November 2025).
  • The exact sentencing date (24 or 25 September 2026).

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The district attorney's release says he used artificial intelligence to place children's faces onto sexual images and videos (via WSMV, WKRN, WZTV). The tool, the source images and the identity of the children are not reported. The depicted_or_impersonated relation rests on the prosecutors' description of the faces of children being placed onto the images and videos.

3 claims: 3 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported According to the district attorney's office, he used AI to place the faces of children onto images and videos of nude people and of people engaged in sexual acts, and exchanged the AI-generated material with a Canadian resident for real child sexual abuse material.

Causal attribution. Prosecutors' account via one release; the source images, the children and the AI tool are not described.

  • wsmv.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'placed the faces of children onto images and videos of nude people and people engaged in sexual acts.'; 'Investigators said he then exchanged the AI-generated material with a Canadian resident for real child sexual abuse material.'
  • yahoo.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'had been placing the faces of children on nude individuals, as well as individuals who were engaging in sexual acts.'; 'would exchange the content with someone in Canada in exchange for real child sexual abuse material.'
Reported Canadian authorities alerted US law enforcement after arresting the person he was communicating with; a joint investigation led to his arrest in November 2025, and he was also charged with tampering with evidence after investigators said he deleted material before officers entered his home.

Causal attribution. DA release as relayed.

  • wsmv.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Canadian authorities alerted U.S. law enforcement after arresting the person who'; 'charged with tampering with evidence after investigators alleged he deleted some material before officers entered his home to execute a search warrant.'
  • newschannel9.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'was arrested in November 2025 after a joint investigation by Portland Police, the US Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.'
Reported A Sumner County Criminal Court judge sentenced him to 30 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction, to be served without probation, parole or early release.

Causal attribution. DA release as relayed; WSMV gives the day as Friday, WKRN and WZTV as Thursday 24 September. The court record was not inspected.

  • wsmv.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Judge Dee David Gay imposed the 30-year sentence, which the district attorney’s office said must be served without probation, parole or early release under Tennessee law.'
  • yahoo.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'On Thursday, Sept. 24, a judge sentenced'; 'to serve 30 years in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction'
  • fox17.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'A Sumner County judge imposed the 30-year sentence Thursday.'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read live on 2026-09-28 (WSMV, 25 September 2026). Relays the DA's release. WVLT carries the same Gray text. Applies to s1.

Read live on 2026-09-28: Yahoo's syndicated copy of WKRN's report (25 September 2026); wkrn.com returned 403 to this host. Quotes the DA's release. Applies to s2.

Read live on 2026-09-28: WZTV (FOX 17) report of 25 September 2026 as carried by sister station WTVC. Applies to s3.

Read live on 2026-09-28 (WZTV/FOX 17, 26 September 2026). Case facts from the DA; adds a former FBI agent's general comments, not used as case evidence. Applies to s4.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: United States.

He lived in Portland, Sumner County, Tennessee, where officers searched his home, and was sentenced in Sumner County Criminal Court. The other party was a Canadian resident arrested by Canadian authorities; where the exchanges took place beyond that is not stated. The children's countries are not reported.

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-28: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a depiction case: prosecutors say AI was used to place the faces of children onto sexual images and videos that were traded internationally, and a court imposed a 30-year sentence. One DA release chain; all claims reported. The children are unidentified and uncounted, and the defendant is not named here.

People described

Children whose faces were placed onto sexual images and videos (not identified; number not reported)

People reported harmed in this case

Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

The prosecutors refer to 'children' whose faces were used but give no number, and none is identified; children depicted in the real material he received are not counted because that material is not AI-made and is not described. Unquantified, with zero placeholders.

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

Tags

#ai-csam#deepfake#child-sexual-abuse-material#sentencing#tennessee#sumner-county#canada

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Portland, Tennessee: a man who prosecutors say used AI to put children's faces onto sexual images and videos and traded them with a Canadian resident for real child sexual abuse material was sentenced to 30 years in Sumner County in September 2026. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-portland-tennessee-ai-child-faces-sexual-images-traded-canada-30-year-sentence

BibTeX

@misc{2026_portland_tennessee_ai_child_faces_sexual_images_traded_canada_30_year_sentence,
  title = {Portland, Tennessee: a man who prosecutors say used AI to put children's faces onto sexual images and videos and traded them with a Canadian resident for real child sexual abuse material was sentenced to 30 years in Sumner County in September 2026},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-portland-tennessee-ai-child-faces-sexual-images-traded-canada-30-year-sentence}
}

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