Seattle – A 23-year-old Skamania County man will appear in U.S. District Court in Tacoma today on a federal indictment for possession of images of child pornography after he used a computer program to turn public photos of minors into sexually explicit images, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Brady Bingham Hall will remain in custody pending future hearings.
“Like any other tool, Artificial Intelligence can be used to engage in criminal misconduct,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “If you make a choice to generate AI images, you better be sure they don’t violate the law. In this case sexually lascivious images of minors clearly crosses the line.”
According to the criminal complaint, Hall was arrested by Skamania County Sheriff Deputies on August 29, 2025. In his car Hall had two firearms, ammunition, and controlled substances. Police also seized Hall’s iPhone and obtained a warrant to review the phone’s contents.
A deputy reviewing the phone noted it contained images of many young people he recognized from the Skamania area. The phone contained screen shots from social media of some minors and then the same photos, but with the minors appearing nude.
Hall agreed to speak with investigators and said he had used a phone application that removed clothing from images, making the subject of the image appear nude. Hall had used this app on hundreds of images – some on images of children as young as 12-years-old. At least one of the photos had the words “AI generated” across the photo.
Law enforcement confirmed the identities of some of the children in the original photos and confirmed that they are minors.
“Our children are our future,” said Skamania County Sheriff Summer Scheyer. “We are proud to partner with Homeland Security Investigations on this case. A crime like this has no place in either Skamania County or our country as a whole.”
“We want to commend the diligence of the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office in identifying the child pornography images which led to this charge,” said acting HSI Seattle Special Agent in Charge April Miller. “We will always work with our local, state and federal partners in our fight against the production of these materials and the protection of our children.”
Possession of child pornography is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000.00 fine.
The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Hampton.