Bentonville photographer facing AI-related CSAM charges due back in court – KHBS

Bentonville photographer facing AI-related CSAM charges due back in court  KHBS

A Bentonville photographer facing 200 charges related to accusations that he used AI to create child sexual abuse material is set to appear in court again in December. At a hearing Monday morning, a judge decided Russell Bloodworth would appear again on December 7th at 8 a.m. During Monday's hearing, prosecutors and the defense said they are still going through evidence and more than 60 devices are still being searched. Attorneys for Bloodworth said the case could still be heard in federal court. In July, Bloodworth pleaded not guilty to 200 charges. He was arrested in June after police received a cyber tip related to child sexual abuse material being generated by someone using Grok AI.

According to court documents filed, Bloodworth is facing 100 counts of pandering or possessing visual or print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, 100 counts of unlawful creation or distribution of deepfake visual material, and one count of engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print medium. The 100 counts of unlawful creation or distribution of deepfake visual material were filed under Act 827, an Arkansas law that took effect in 2025. The law makes it a crime to knowingly create or distribute sexually explicit AI-generated images of an identifiable person without that person's consent. It was passed