Warning - the contents of this article are very distressing but we have sought to accurately reflect the gravity of the offending by not censoring what was said in court. A man used his computer skills to turn pictures of children into “depraved” images in one of the first cases of its kind. Hugh Nelson, 27, created a huge number of images showing children in graphic sexual detail including bestiality, beheadings, rape and other violent scenarios from his bedroom in Egerton.
Bolton Crown Court heard how in May 2023 he had offered to create a range of images for a man, who was in fact an undercover police officer, he had been talking to online for a fee of £80. Prosecutor David Toal said: “He stated 'I’ve done beatings, smotherings, hangings, drownings, beheadings, necro, beast, the list goes on’ with a laughing emoji.'” Mr Toal told the court how Nelson's crimes were uncovered by a police investigation, dubbed "Operation Influence", into "the creation and developing trends of AI in relation to child sexual exploitation.
" Nelson had claimed to work with the software DAZ 3-D and told the undercover officer he was “taking commissions” from people. The case was heard at Bolton Crown Court (Image: Newsquest) Nelson told him he had created over 60,000 “characters” using the software, whose ages ranged from six months to middle age. He sent eight images to the officer, seven of them showing graphic images of child sexual activity.
On May 10 that year Nelson sent.
