--- title: "Two Men Arrested for Creating AI Deepfake Porn" description: "Two men were charged in a Brooklyn federal court for operating separate AI porn rings exploiting some 140 victims, all of them women." date: "2026-05-25" modified: "2026-05-25" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/two-men-arrested-ai-deepfake-porn" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" --- # Two Men Arrested for Creating AI Deepfake Porn ![Hands in handcuffs typing on a laptop keyboard, with an orange grid-patterned background.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Shutterstock* Beyond the well-known impacts generative AI has on the [environment]() and the [human psyche](), it also comes with a tremendous social burden. Deepfakes — digitally altered content that's indistinguishable from real life — have [proliferated]() off the back of the AI boom, turning the web into a noxious slurry of half-truths and misinformation. It's also enabled a major rise in digital sex crimes through deepfake porn of real people. In [one recent survey]() of 557 teenagers in the US, over 36 percent reported that a non-consensual pornographic image had been created of them by someone using AI (alarmingly, over 55 percent reported using AI to personally create deepfake porn.) There's no question that the technology's rapid rise has contributed to a massive rise in [sexual blackmail](), [non-consensual sexualization](), and [child sexual abuse material](). Unlike in the European Union and China, officials in the US have been [slow to respond](), though two new federal cases may indicate shifting winds. According [to the *Associated Press*](), federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have charged two men with creating deepfake porn under a new [bipartisan law](). The men, identified as Cornelius Shannon of New Jersey and Arturo Hernandez of Texas, are alleged to have created and posted thousands of images and videos depicting actresses, singers, political figures, and non-celebrity women in sexual situations. The two were not alleged to have worked together, according to a Department of Justice [press release](), but rather to have operated separate rings spreading deepfake porn. Altogether, the DoJ has identified roughly 473 albums containing 140 different victims, all of them women. In particular, the "content published by Hernandez has been viewed nearly a million times," federal prosecutors allege. "This case makes clear that posting deepfake pornography is not a victimless crime," United States Attorney Joseph Nocella said in the presser, "and our office will pursue the criminals who engage in this reprehensible conduct with all the legal resources that the federal government can bring to bear, including new authorities granted by Congress to address these emerging forms of psychological, reputational, and financial abuse." While any escalation against the creators of deepfake porn is welcome news, the two are just the second and third alleged perpetrators charged under the bipartisan "Take It Down" act, which President Trump signed into law all the way back in [April of 2025](). Their maximum sentence? Just two years in prison. **More on AI:** *[Scammers Furious That Their Fellow Criminals Are Using AI, Saying It's Unethical]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()