The man was arrested in June after police received a tip about a Discord user sharing child sexual abuse material and traced the activity back to the teacher
A paedophile teacher has been jailed for 135 years after using AI to create lewd sexualised videos and images of his own pupils.
David McKeown, 47, was sentenced on Tuesday after investigators discovered he had used artificial intelligence to generate child sexual abuse material featuring students from his school.
McKeown, a sixth-grade teacher at United Brethren in Christ Academy in Florida, US, was arrested in June after Holly Hill police received a tip about a Discord user sharing child sexual abuse material.
Officers soon traced the activity to McKeown and found he had been distributing files and chatting with other users while using the school’s Wi-Fi during school hours.
Investigators said the disgraced teacher shared students’ personal information and photographs, including AI-generated images that appeared sexually explicit.
Prosecutors also revealed that police uncovered photographs of McKeown “engaging in sexual acts with the family pet”.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier condemned the crimes in a statement, saying: “The abuse and trauma this predator inflicted is sick, and he deserves every moment of this sentence.
“We will always seek the longest sentence possible for anyone who harms innocent children or defenseless animals.”
McKeown faced one count of aggravated possession of child pornography, 18 counts of possession of child pornography, and six counts of sexual conduct with an animal.
Circuit Judge A. Christian Miller handed down the maximum penalty, sentencing him to 135 years in prison.
The judge also designated him as a sexual offender and ruled that he will never be allowed to own animals, even after serving his sentence.
The scandal sent shockwaves through the UBIC Academy community.
The school suspended its operations entirely in July in the immediate aftermath of the arrest, according to the Daytona Beach News Journal.
Its website still states that information about the educational institution is “under construction”.
In an email statement to parents and staff, UBIC administrators said they were “shocked and deeply grieved by the serious allegations of misconduct against him.”
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