Spanish National Police have arrested a man in the northern Basque province of Álava on suspicion of using advanced artificial intelligence tools to create child sexual abuse material. The suspect is accused of producing and possessing the illegal images, marking the latest case in Spain involving the misuse of generative AI technology.
The extensive investigation began in August after cyber agents first detected the circulation of the material online. This initial awareness came through international cooperation channels and specialized police monitoring of the dark web and other platforms.
Locating the perpetrator proved highly challenging for investigators due to the sophisticated anonymization techniques the man employed to conceal his digital identity.
However, officers successfully tracked the suspect to his residence in Álava, locating him on November 18. Following judicial authorization, police searched his home and made the arrest on charges related to the corruption of minors, specifically through the production and possession of child pornography.
During the search, authorities seized a substantial cache of material. Police sources confirmed that a significant portion of the images had been created through the use of AI applications.
Crucially, the suspect is also alleged to have taken photographs of minors in real-world public settings, including streets and municipal swimming pools. He then used AI manipulation tools to digitally remove clothing, transforming the original photos into sexualized and illegal images.
The use of artificial intelligence in such cases is a growing concern for Spanish law enforcement. This arrest follows a discovery in Valladolid in December 2022, which police termed the country’s first confirmed case of child sexual abuse material created using AI.
Another high-profile case occurred in October 2023 when a 17-year-old computer science student in Catalonia was arrested for offering a service to transform any photo of a minor into pornographic images using AI. Spain has since moved to amend its Penal Code to explicitly criminalize the dissemination of AI-generated pornographic content without consent.
Would you like to know more about the new Spanish laws aimed at protecting minors from deepfake and AI-generated content?
