Southern Utah man given 5 years for using AI to make photos of children explicit

20 Sep 2026, 01:03 by Cassidy Wixom ksl · KSL.com

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Jared Marsh, 49, was sentenced to five years in federal prison for possession of AI-altered child sex abuse material.
He pleaded guilty to possessing altered images of children, aged 12 to 17.
Marsh faces lifetime probation with strict conditions after his prison term.

ST. GEORGE – A southern Utah man will serve five years in prison after he was found in possession of child sexual abuse material that was altered by artificial intelligence.

Jared Marsh, 49, of Santa Clara, Washington County, pleaded guilty in May to possession of child sexual abuse material. He was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen to five years in prison plus a lifetime of probation.

"In early 2024, prior to beginning a term of probation for a misdemeanor voyeurism conviction, defendant Jared Marsh transferred some pornographic videos and images to another person's phone. When that person reviewed the videos and images Marsh provided, she realized that they included nude photos and videos of her that were taken without her consent," a motion for detention states.

The woman reported the matter to police who then searched Marsh's phone. Law enforcement found approximately 20 photographs of children, ages 12 to 17, that had been digitally altered to make the children appear to be completely nude, court documents said.

The explicit photos were placed on his phone while he was on probation for the voyeurism conviction, the motion for detention said. He was arrested and charged in state court with 25 felonies for the explicit photos, but the charges were dismissed when he was federally indicted in March 2025. Marsh still faces pending voyeurism charges in 5th District Court for the photos and videos of the adult victim.

Marsh was initially indicted on charges of production of obscenity and possession of child sexual abuse material, but the first charge was dismissed as part of his plea agreement.

"Digitally altering a child's image through technology is illegal and will be met with severe consequences," said U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak for the District of Utah.

As part of his probation, Marsh must complete sex offender treatment, cannot be in contact with individuals under age 18 without adult supervision and will have all computer devices monitored through cybercrime management.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Southern Utah man given 5 years for using AI to make photos of children explicit

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