The first federal Take It Down Act conviction came down recently on April 8, 2026. James Strahler II of Columbus, Ohio, pleaded guilty to cyberstalking, producing AI-generated child sexual abuse materials and publishing digital forgeries, after using 100+ AI models across 24 platforms to generate 700+ images of real minor boys from his neighborhood.
I had two immediate reactions to this news. First, I felt relief from years of built-up tension rooted in the fact that children were being harmed by AI-generated child sexual abuse materials with no recourse. Not that the Take It Down Act is going to solve AI-generated child sexual abuse materials, but the act is a shining example of bipartisan legislation that worked to protect our children despite our politically uncooperative environment. It’s the kind of bipartisan win we don’t often see, and our kids are better for it. Second, I felt my anger and fear flooding through my body as I thought of those boys in Ohio and how it could have just as easily been my thirteen-year-old.
AI-generated child sexual abuse materials are being used to sextort our middle and high school-age boys. Sextortion is one of the few types of sexual violence that impacts boys more than girls — albeit both are at risk. Perpetrators use images and threats to extort money, sexual content or sexual abuse activity. The technological AI arms race has made it easier for perpetrators to secure compromising images, and our boys are paying the price. The national conversation is treating this harm as a content-moderation failure, a character failure in perpetrators or a corporate greed-over-ethics failure. Each of these is relevant and should be addressed, but what do we do in the meantime? How do we protect our boys?
We start by understanding why our boys are so vulnerable to this type of crime. First, our boys are lonely. Gallup finds that one in four young American men aged 15 to 34 felt lonely for much of the previous day — among the highest rates in the Western world. Our boys are lacking emotional connection. This makes them more susceptible to catfishing or other sextortion tactics used by perpetrators.
As parents, we’re trying to solve the screen time problem. But the real issue isn’t the screen. It’s what’s happening beneath it. We’re facing a disconnection and emotional numbing problem. In brief, when our boys numb their emotions, their biological drivers to connect with others are suppressed. They end up disconnected and lonely, and a prime target for sextortion.
Fostering more human interaction outside of tech gives our boys a better chance to develop connections with their peers and healthy adults. We’re raising boys in a world designed for disconnection. Stimulation is cheap. Connection is expensive. And the perpetrator is counting on the difference. If we want to change the outcome for boys, we’ll need to be intentional.
Second, we’ve got to grapple with our parenting culture. If we rely only on the ethics of tech decision makers, regulation or legislation, we’re putting our boys in the middle of a whack-a-mole game, leaving their protection to chance. This is an area where we can be more proactive. And it starts with opening up the conversation.
Boys are less likely to disclose sextortion and sexual abuse in general because of how they view sexual activity, shame and power. What works is not one big talk. It is many little talks. I’ve been having them with my thirteen-year-old for years — about the risk, how he could be targeted, what to do if he is, and, most importantly, what I’ll do to protect him.
We can also open up dialogue with other parents. Having a trusted, educated circle of adults who interact with our boys increases the likelihood that someone will notice and intervene early if our child is targeted.
Third, we can ease our kids into technology through education, parental controls, and monitoring. Limiting tech isn’t a breach of trust. It’s an act of trust. Teens don’t need the same level of access as adults. Building their capacity to responsibly use tech for good takes time and effort. We can’t just hand it over and expect them to figure it out
on their own. The parents of those boys in Ohio love their kids as much as you and I love ours.
The gap isn’t love. It’s that we’re raising our kids in a world designed for disconnection, and the perpetrators know it. They’re counting on boys who are lonely, numb and too ashamed to speak. Connection is the one thing they cannot counterfeit. We build it through little talks, open conversation and the monotonous daily work of paying attention.