Docs: Man Used AI to Create Sexual Content of Child
NEW CASTLE, Ind. — A New Castle man is out on bond after investigators alleged that he used artificial intelligence to turn photos of a 10-year-old girl into a GIF that showed the child performing sexual acts.
According to court documents recently filed in Henry County, 28-year-old Rocky Johnson was charged with:
Two counts of child exploitation, each a Level 4 felony
One count of child exploitation, a Level 5 felony
In early March, officials with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office conducted a search warrant at a home on West Vickie Lane in New Castle. This comes after a cybertip was received on Sept. 30, 2025, regarding a person allegedly uploading sexually explicit images of pre-pubescent females on Kik Messenger.
According to the court documents, three of the 11 uploads were reportedly nude photos of pre-pubescent females. The other nine images allegedly showed “the same pre-pubescent female in a pose wearing provocative clothing.” The IP address from which the images were uploaded was reportedly at the New Castle home.
In the search, the documents stated that all electronic devices in the home were seized. Law enforcement officials claimed they had located some of the content from the cybertip on Johnson’s phone.
Officials stated this included message exchanges between Johnson and another user on Kik Messenger. A woman reportedly sent Johnson photos of a 10-year-old, leading Johnson to use AI to make the pictures into sexual content.
During an interview with Johnson, the documents said that he confirmed that the email linked to the Kik account was his. When asked what he used the platform for, Johnson reportedly told police he used it to talk with “people for sexual s***”
Johnson reportedly told law enforcement that he didn’t talk with underage individuals on the platform. When officials asked Johnson during the interview if he ever looked at underage girls on Kik, the documents said “there was a long pause before (Johnson) replied ‘no.’”
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Eventually, the documents said that law enforcement officials brought up the photos involving the 10-year-old. During the interview, Johnson said he reportedly knew that the child was underage and did not stop him from asking for pictures.
Later, Johnson also allegedly told law enforcement that he used AI to create content from the photo. The documents said that the interview with Johnson ended after he told law enforcement, “I think I should get a lawyer.”
The court documents state that a $3,750 cash bond and a $27,500 surety bond was entered in for Johnson in Henry County on June 18. Johnson’s pretrial conference is scheduled for Aug. 27 and his jury trial is scheduled for Sept. 21.
