A Vernal man is behind bars after allegedly using AI to create child pornography from a real image of a child known to him. According to the Probable Cause Statement, on or about May 19th, in Uintah County, it was discovered that a Vernal man had produced child sexual abuse material that he kept on his cell phone. Specifically, he had taken a screen shot of an undressed 9-year-old girl that he had gotten from security cameras inside a residence of someone he knows. Using the same photo of the child, he used an Artificial Intelligence application to create an image that appeared to be that same child standing naked. He then created an image of what appeared to be the child about to engage in a sexual act. When asked about the image, he admitted that the male nudity in the AI image was from a nude image of himself. 37-year-old Beau J. Peterson was arrested and is being held on no bail. Peterson is charged with 1st Degree Felony Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of a Minor and 2 counts of 1st Degree Felony Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material. Peterson also had syringes on his person that contained Methamphetamine so he is also facing Misdemeanor drug charges.
