BG man sentenced in AI porn case
Published 10:00 am Friday, March 13, 2026
A Bowling Green man who was found to have used artificial intelligence to produce hundreds of images of child sexual exploitation has received a five-year prison sentence.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky announced Thursday that Ray Gordon, 37, received the five-year prison term after pleading guilty to a count of producing obscene visual representations of child abuse and a count of possessing obscene visual representations of child abuse.
According to documents filed in the federal criminal case in U.S. District Court, Gordon used an AI image generator to create detailed images of child sexual exploitation between July 2022 and December 2023.
“In many instances the AI generated child pornography the defendant created was extremely realistic, so much so that it was initially believed by law enforcement to depict real children in actual situations of sexual abuse,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Zimdahl wrote in a sentencing memorandum recommending the five-year sentence.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Gordon’s residence in a separate investigation on Dec. 14, 2023, which led to the discovery of more than 1,300 unique visual depictions of child sexual abuse on multiple electronic devices, according to court records.
A grand jury first indicted Gordon on state charges in 2024, and in Warren Circuit Court he faced 10 counts of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance and a count of first-degree sexual abuse.
The case was referred to the federal court system for prosecution there, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Gordon in October, with a plea agreement reached soon afterward.
“Unfortunately, child predators are using AI to produce child sexual abuse material,” U.S. Attorney Kyle Bumgarner said in a news release. “It is tragic how deviants continually adapt new technology to further their twisted and evil fetishes. Our office will continue to work with law enforcement to ensure that these deviants are stopped and sent to federal prison.”
The terms of the plea agreement call for Gordon to be placed on supervised release for 20 years after completing the five-year prison sentence.
Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kori Beck Bumgarner said in a news release that her office was satisfied with the outcome of the case and that supervised release would provide a community safeguard that would ensure continued oversight after incarceration.
