Melania Trump Applauds First Conviction Under ‘Take It Down Act’ for Online Sexual Abuse Materials

The Take It Down Act prohibits non-consensual online publication of intimate visual depictions and AI forgeries.

First Lady Melania Trump at the White House on Feb. 4, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

First Lady Melania Trump celebrated the first conviction under the “Take It Down Act,” a law she strongly advocated for in 2025.

“I am proud to have worked with Congress to provide U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II with a strong legal mechanism to protect innocent victims from cybercrimes of this nature,” the first lady wrote in an X post on Tuesday.

James Strahler II pleaded guilty in a U.S. District Court on Tuesday to cyberstalking, producing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse and publication of digital forgeries, according to an April 7 press release by the U.S Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Ohio.

“We believe Strahler is the first person in the United States to be convicted under the Take It Down Act,” U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II wrote in Tuesday’s press release.

“We will not tolerate the abhorrent practice of posting and publicizing AI-generated intimate images of real individuals without consent.”

The publication of digital forgeries was part of the newly-enacted Take It Down Act, which was pushed by the first lady. The Act, which went into effect in May 2025, prohibits non-consensual online publication of intimate visual depictions and AI forgeries.

“This is a huge achievement for the First Lady, and I know the President is very proud of his wife’s efforts in getting this critical legislation passed to protect America’s youth,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

Prosecutors accused the 37-year-old of having over two dozen AI platforms and 100 AI web-based models on his phone, which he used as part of a harassment campaign against at least six victims between December 2024 and June 2025.

The messages included nude images of the victims. Some were real and others were AI-generated, prosecutors said.

The Columbus, Ohio, resident was also found guilty of using AI to create videos that showcased an adult victim participating in incest with a family member. Prosecutors say he spread that video around to her co-workers. Then, he sent the same video to her mother’s friends and demanded nude photos of them, or he’d circulate AI-generated photos of their daughters.

“We are committed to using every tool at our disposal to hold accountable offenders like Strahler, who seek to intimidate and harass others by creating and circulating this disturbing content,” Gerace added.

Prosecutors say Strahler created and uploaded over 700 images of real people and fake victims on a website that is used to watch child sexual abuse.

Police found an additional 2,400 images and videos on his phone that showed nudity, morphed child sexual abuse material, or violence.

​A date has not been set for Strahler’s sentencing.