The Media Line: Leavitt Highlights First Conviction Under Melania Trump–Backed Take It Down Act 

Leavitt Highlights First Conviction Under Melania Trump–Backed Take It Down Act  

By The Media Line Staff  

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, during a press conference on Wednesday, mentioned the first conviction under the Trump administration’s Take It Down Act, highlighting enforcement of a federal law targeting nonconsensual explicit imagery, including AI-generated content.   

“This is a huge achievement for the first lady [Melania Trump], and I know the President is very proud of his wife’s efforts in getting this critical legislation passed to protect America’s youth. So, we thank the first lady for her efforts,” Leavitt said.    

A 37-year-old Ohio man, James Strahler II, became the first person convicted under the law, according to a Justice Department news release issued Tuesday. Authorities said Strahler used artificial intelligence to create nonconsensual images and videos involving both adult and minor victims.   

He was arrested in June 2025 and pleaded guilty on Tuesday to cyberstalking, producing obscene visuals of child sexual abuse material, and publishing digital forgeries, the legal term used for deepfakes. Investigators said police discovered thousands of images in which children’s faces were imposed onto the bodies of adults or other children for sexual purposes.   

Leavitt described the case as a milestone in enforcing the legislation, which criminalizes the distribution of nonconsensual sexual imagery, including AI-generated material and threats of violence.   

First Lady Melania Trump also marked the conviction in a post on X. “Today marks the first conviction under the Take It Down Act–protecting victims from non-consensual AI-generated sexually explicit images, cyberstalking, and threats of violence,” she wrote.   

“Thank you US Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II for protecting Americans from cybercrimes in this new digital age,” she added.   

Melania Trump traveled to Capitol Hill last year to advocate for the legislation, which targets revenge porn and AI-generated content depicting child sexual abuse. The bill passed the House in a 409-2 vote and cleared the Senate by unanimous consent.   

Leavitt said the conviction represents a significant step in addressing online exploitation and protecting victims in what she described as a growing digital threat environment.