James Strahler II Gets 15 Years in What Prosecutors Call First Take It Down Act Conviction

James Strahler II will serve 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to cyberstalking, producing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse and publishing digital forgeries. Prosecutors say the Ohio case is the nation’s first conviction under the 2025 Take It Down Act.

A sentence after an April guilty plea

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Sarah D. Morrison imposed the 180-month sentence on the 37-year-old Columbus man. Strahler pleaded guilty in April to the three federal offenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Authorities said Strahler used more than 24 AI platforms and over 100 web-based AI models while harassing at least six adult women between December 2024 and June 2025. The campaign used phone calls, voicemails, text messages and web postings, authorities said.

15 yearsFederal prison sentence

The court sentenced Strahler to 180 months in federal prison.

More than 24AI platforms authorities said were used

Authorities said the conduct involved more than 24 AI platforms.

2,400Additional flagged files on his phone

Investigators found 2,400 additional flagged images and videos on Strahler’s phone.

Synthetic material was part of a harassment campaign

Authorities said Strahler created AI-generated pornographic videos depicting an adult victim and sent them to that victim’s co-workers. They also said he threatened victims’ mothers, demanded nude photographs, and threatened to circulate explicit imagery.

Authorities also found AI-generated obscene images of children posted online. The images used faces of minor boys from Strahler’s community, manipulated onto other bodies in sexual material, they said. More than 700 images were found on a website dedicated to child sexual abuse, along with additional flagged files on his phone.

What the new federal charge covers

The Take It Down Act bans the nonconsensual online publication of intimate images and AI forgeries. In this prosecution, publishing digital forgeries was charged alongside cyberstalking and the offense involving obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse; prosecutors characterize that combination as the first national conviction under the law.

The investigation involved the Hilliard Police Department, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. The prosecution was part of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which targets child sexual exploitation and abuse online.