Sicko Teacher Caught with AI Porn of Students Thrown in Prison

The former teacher who used AI [music]. to create child sexual abuse material of. real kids, including students at the. school, has just been hit with his. sentence. [music] And it is something. We are updating you on the latest on. this case out of Florida and what. message this [music] sentence sends and. whether this is the start of more sick. cases to come. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. Okay, real quick before we jump into. this any further, the reason we can do a.

deep dive into this kind of story is. because of the support that we get from. our sponsor, Upside. Now, this is a free. app that gets you cash back on daily. essentials like gas, groceries. It is so. easy to use. When I go pump my gas, I. can use Upside. I go to a convenience. store, I can use Upside. I grab a quick. bite to eat, I can use Upside. And. that's right, this is real cash back. After you spend, money appears in your. Upside account that you can transfer. right into your bank account. So, here's. what you do. You download the Upside app. for free. You buy whatever you plan to. purchase. You pay as usual with a debit. or credit card. You file a claim in the.

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this is the reality that we're living in. now. I am talking about the former. Central Florida elementary school. teacher who is officially sentenced for. using AI, artificial intelligence, to. create sexually explicit material of. real children. This is a new day and. age. This couldn't have happened 5 years. ago, 10 years ago. This is a new. reality. And maybe when I tell you what. this sentence is, it will hopefully. hopefully deter anyone from doing.

something like this in the future. We're. talking about David Mchuan. We've spoken. about him before here on Sidebar. Let's. actually go back to the summer. That is. when Florida Attorney General James. Umeer's office of statewide prosecution. charged Mchuan with one count of. aggravated possession of child. pornography, 18 counts of possession of. child pornography, and six counts of. sexual conduct with an animal. Yeah. So, this investigation began on June 2nd, 2025 after the Holly Hill Police.

Department got a tip from the National. Center for Missing and Exploited. Children. This is an amazing. organization by the way because they. alert law enforcement when there are. reports of not only children who. disappear but also sexual exploitation. of children on the internet in. particular. Now Mchuan was arrested by. the Holly Hill Police Department. He was. a sixth grade teacher at UBIC Academy in. Holly Hill. That is United Brethren in. Christ. They get word that this teacher. was using AI technology to create child.

sexual abuse material involving actual. real children, including those who even. attended the school where he taught, UBIC Academy. Let me read directly from. the AG offic's release at the time. Quote, "Initial search warrants revealed. that Mchuan was disseminating, downloading, and communicating with. users on Discord, a popular group chat. service, during school hours, and while. connected to the UBIC Academy Wi-Fi. During these exchanges, he shared 19.

images of CSAM, this is child sexual. abuse material, and nine images of. himself engaging in sexual acts with the. family pet. We're talking a whole other. level here, folks. And the digital trail. back to him was devastating, clearly. In. fact, according to the Florida. Department of Law Enforcement back on. June 20th, they released a statement. explaining how both the Holly Hill. Police Department and agents from FDLE's. Orlando Cyber Crime Task Force quote. served a search warrant at Mchuan's.

residence. FDLE provided use of. electronic storage device K9 Ruby during. the search of Mchuan's residence. K9. Ruby assisted in locating several. devices within the residence which were. seized for forensic analysis. HHPD. officers served a second search warrant. at UBC Academy where additional. electronic devices were seized. Now, unsurprisingly, UBIC fired him, released. the statement to the school community. that the administration was quote. shocked and deeply grieved by the. serious allegations of misconduct.

against him. In fact, the school. announced it was closing for the rest of. the year after all this came out. And. something that the FDLE noted was that. this was all happening in the wake of. Florida Governor Ronda Santis signing. into effect Brooks law. Florida's taken. a very aggressive stance against this. Now, when it comes to Brooks Law, as. described by the Florida Senate, quote, "The bill revises provisions of. Florida's deep fake law to required. covered platforms such as websites and. online services to remove altered sexual.

depictions and copies of such depictions. from their platform upon request of the. victim. The bill requires such platforms. to establish a process for persons to. notify them of deep fake depictions and. request their removal. The bill requires. the platforms to remove such content. within 48 hours of receiving a request. Provides liability protections for. platforms that act in good faith, establishes penalties for failure to. comply, and makes such failures a. violation of the Florida Deceptive and. Unfair Trade Practices Act. The bill. provides an exception for certain.

information or telecommunication. services and certain online services. that do not primarily consist of. usergenerated content. Now, at the time. of Mchuan's arrest, AG James Umeer said. in a statement, quote, "As a teacher, parents trusted Mr. Mchuan to impart. knowledge to their children. Instead, he. spent parts of the school day sending. and receiving child sexual abuse. material and providing other pedophiles. with UBIC Academy students personal. information. What he did is beyond. betrayal. It is devastating and sick.

Our office of statewide prosecution will. aggressively pursue justice for these. children and their parents. This all. brings us to what just happened. This is. the update. So, Mchuan ended up pleading. no contest on all the charges, accepting. conviction. Doesn't really admit guilt, but accepts conviction. He enters an. open plea, meaning the judge is going to. decide the sentence here. He's. adjudicated guilty on all the counts. Can't say I'm that surprised considering. the digital trail leading right back to. him. I think it's a fair estimation that. if he took it to trial, if he took it in.

front of a jury, he would have been. found guilty. But what is his sentence? What is his sentence for all of this? So, you have the seam and you have his. conduct with an animal. What was his. sentence? 135 years in prison. Let me say that. again. 135 years in prison. That's what was. handed down by Circuit Judge A. Christian Miller. And Judge Miller. designated Mchuan a sexual offender. also ordered that he not be allowed any. animals. All of this once his 135-year.

sentence is complete. Although, I got to. say, I don't think Mikuan has to worry. about any of that because by all. accounts, he's going to die in prison. Now, the attorney general said this. quote, "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." Thanks. to senior assistant statewide prosecutor. Emily Frasier and the Holly Hill Police. Department, this criminal has been. brought to justice and will not be.

allowed to harm another child or animal. again. Talk about sending a message. Okay, now here's the question. Is this. going to stop people in the future? The. conversation doesn't end here because. with this sentence, I want to know, is. this just the start? Will we see more of. this? What effect does this case have? And by the way, could this guy ever get. out? Let me bring on Dave Aaronburgg, former Palm Beach County State Attorney, friend of the show, friend of mine. Dave, good to see you. Thanks so much. for taking the time. Before we get.

started, you're like in a million. different things right now, but it's. your Substack. Your Substack that you. recently launched that is getting a lot. of attention. And tell everybody where. they can find you and what you're. putting up on Substack before we get. into this. >> Jesse, thank you, brother. I have a. Substack. It's Dave Aaronburgg. D A V E. A R O N B E R G and I do at least a. video a day. We talk about some of the. big legal news of the day. It's the rip. from the national headlines like the. bombing of the narot trafficking boats. Is that legal? The disqualification of.

Lindseay Halligan, the special. prosecutors and the Comey James case. So, we do a lot of the headline legal. analysis and love to see you there. And. occasionally we'll do some true crime, but I try to save my best true crime for. you, Jesse Weber, because you deserve. it. >> That is very, very kind of you. Um, I. wish we had a different case to talk. about, but honestly, this is just I. think this is an important case. I. really, really do because we're in a. different age now. I said it before, I'll say it again. This is the type of. crime that couldn't exist, you know, 10. years ago. And I'm worried that this is.

now the start because we're already kind. of seeing some of this. Dave, let me. start here. 135 years. 135 years. Two questions. Is this the. sentence that you expected? And is there. any way possible this guy gets out of. prison? >> He's going to die in prison. He will. receive 85% of the 135 years. There is. no parole in Florida. We did away with. that years ago. And so he is stuck there.

for 85% of the 135 years. And if you do. the quick math in your head, it means. he's going to die in prison. So this guy. ain't going anywhere. and it should send. a strong message to everyone in Florida. that we're going to take this seriously. You can try to hide behind that this is. just AI. But when you're dealing with. kids and you're dealing with your family. pet, those are two things that no one. has any tolerance for. >> And just to be clear, even though he. pled no contest and even though he. agreed to an open plea, right, where the. judge he he's basically he's saying,

"Judge, sentence me to what you will, right? I mean, that's what we're talking. about with an open plea unless I'm. wrong. There's no way he can appeal. that." and say, "Yeah, I yeah, I agreed. to an open plea, but 135 years is is not. reasonable. He can't appeal that. You. tell me. I'm I'm not 100% sure.". >> He can try to appeal it, but ain't going. anywhere because an open plea is this. So, you don't trust the jury because, you know, the jury is going to be. inflamed by these passions. You don't. trust prosecutors to give you a deal. Prosecutors aren't offering you a good.

deal to accept. So, you say, "You know. what? I'm going to go to the judge. I'm. going to go around on these people. Go. to the judge. Your honor, I plead guilty. to you. no contest to you and you're a. judge. You're not supposed to be. influenced by the whims of the public. and polls and public sentiment and. passions. So, just follow the evidence. of the law and give me what I deserve. And the judge [clears throat] threw the. book at him. I got to believe that if. they knew in advance that they would get. 135 years from the judge, they would. never have pled up to the court because.

in doing so, it really does cut the. knees off of your appeal. And this guy, like I said, is gonna die in prison. >> To be clear, is this to send a message? Is this to deter future conduct? Because, let's be clear, AI technology. is going to get more advanced. And I'm. concerned that it's going to become. easier and easier and easier to create. this content. And by the way, he wasn't. just sentenced for that. He was also. sentenced for what he did with the pet, which is disgusting to say in and of. itself. But. >> the point is, is this to send a message?

Will it deter future conduct? Is it a. message to those out there? Do not do. this. >> It is a message. Will it resonate? Will. it affect people? You have people who. are really mentally ill. I mean, who. have this sickness and they're out there. even though the laws are very harsh. You. know, when it comes to child. pornography, this one of the few areas. where we're going to treat the possessor. as seriously as the distributor. I mean, the possessor will get a hard time. Generally, you know, if it's drugs, for. example, the user will get a slap on the.

wrist. sometimes a drug court. rehabilitation while it's the trafficker. who gets hit with serious penalties. Well, here when it comes to child porn, we want to protect the kids and so we. want to go after the demand side, not. just the supply side. And yet people. still do it and they do it because. they're sick and they should be treated. harshly because that is not an excuse. That's not a justification where they. should just get treated with. rehabilitation. This is such an. important thing for society that we need. to combat it in the most serious way. These are the type of people who should.

not be on the streets. And this guy. wasn't just on the streets. He was. teaching at a school. He was doing this. stuff with this elicit material during. school hours. He was connected to the. school's Wi-Fi network. So I do think. that for perhaps where it will change. things is that teachers and others who. are involved in this and it's few and. far between will think twice before they. use their school's Wi-Fi network to. disseminate, download and and. communicate this kind of disgusting. material. >> By the way, they had him dead to rights.

Is that why he he pled no contest here? Well, two parts of this. Why didn't he. take this to trial? Is it because there. was really no argument? I mean, the. digital trail led right back to him. Um, and why no contest verse not uh versus. guilty? >> Well, because the the court allowed him. to plead no contest because that sounds. better than a guilty plea, but in the. end, he's still convicted and he's going. to be in prison forever. So, it's really. a distinction here without a difference. He can still try to appeal saying that.

the judge acted improperly in making his. decision. But when you plead to the. court, it's much harder to appeal this. than if you can argue about how there. were defects in a trial, a trial that. never happened here or that the jury did. something improper, a jury that didn't. exist here. So, he rolled the dice and. it came up snake eyes. >> And again, he would have been found. guilty. In my opinion, my legal my legal. opinion, he would have been found guilty. very easily if he took this to trial. Um, I I don't understand something. 135. years has to serve 85%, right? Unless.

he's found the fountain of youth. somewhere. Why even say, "Okay, once. you're released, once you get out, you're you're designated a sex offender. and you can't be near animals." What I'm. not understanding that. Why do you even. have to put that in the sentence? He's. he's he's like you said, he's going to. die in prison. Unless I'm not missing. unless I'm missing something. >> Well, it's it's part of the process. you. have whenever you have a term of years, you still have that parole on the other. side. You just don't know. Maybe.

something gets overturned on appeal and. so then he gets to get out, but at least. the probation part can remain. I mean, you have to just go through the process. assuming that yeah, you just don't know. Maybe there is a pill that comes out in. 30 years that allows you to live for an. extra 60 years. Who knows? But you're. just crossing your tees, dotting your. eyes, even though we know he's going to. die in prison. Also, if there was a. pill, if there was a fountain of youth, he's not finding it because I don't. think prisoners would be the first ones. to get it. And also, he's a kind of guy. who has actually had some hard living. I. mean, if you see the picture of him,

it's not like he's looking like Tom Cruz. at his age. >> Well, um, you think about what his life. will be like behind bars. Uh, and it. brings it to another question here. I. mentioned before Brooks Law. Florida has. taken a very aggressive stance against. deep fake videos and particularly now if. you're talking about creating artificial. videos of actual children engaging in. sexual conduct uh or sexually explicit. material. It's pretty disgusting to say. Can you talk to us about that a little. bit more? The stance that Florida's.

taken Brooks Law a little bit more um. and how this might affect cases like. this. Yeah. The reason why Florida was. so proactive here is because this. happened to Brooke Curry. That's the. daughter of a former mayor of. Jacksonville, former head of the. Republican party in Florida. So very. well connected. And she was victimized. by a deep fake image that was created. using her likeness without her consent. while she was a minor. And so here you. had something similar where you have. this teacher who's using real. individuals creating these deep fakes of.

child pornography based on them. So this. would apply here, but this is a civil. law. This is not a criminal law. And. what it does, it it has obligations on. what's called covered platforms. These. are websites, social media apps that. provide a form for this kind of stuff. And there's a mandatory take down. process. And you have a 48 hour removal. window once you get a valid request. And. then if you don't, there are penalties. Now, it's not criminal, as I said, but. you can get hit with like $10,000 of. actual damages or uh you can get a.

lawsuit hit against you, which is going. to be more. So at the very least, you. know, for every image you could get hit. This could really add up. So it is in. the incentive of these sites that take. it down. Now here you had Discord. Could. they get sued? Yeah, possibly. Um it. depends on the facts how much they knew, how much they should have known. >> Is it becoming easier to not only create. this material, but to disseminate it? You talked about a platform uh like. Discord. I mean, here you have to wonder. if it wasn't for the National Center for. Missing and Exploited Children who flag.

this, would law enforcement have found. it, would it have been on their radar? Yes, but law enforcement is handicapped. by limited resources and limited people. And that's why it's important to have. civilians empowered to help root this. out. That's why we say if you see. something, say something. And would law. enforcement eventually have found it? I. think so. This guy was pretty blatant. He was doing it during work hours at the. school using the school's Wi-Fi, I think. eventually. But thankfully, we got him.

off the streets earlier because of some. amazing private citizens who. investigated this and reported it to the. cops. >> What about in the future? This case, the. future, the material that uh is shared, there's obviously li there's obviously. liability like you said, person who. creates it potentially liability for a. platform that houses it. Um, but the. people who retain it and get it, um, what about them? I mean, you wonder, is.

there a way to even track that? Who has. access to this? Who, uh, uh, downloads. this material, uh, that's shared by. somebody who creates it? >> Yeah. You know, law enforcement is out. there every day acting as underage. individuals and seeing who takes the. bait. And so they're very proactive to. see who these individuals are who are. asking for inappropriate pictures, who. are trying to engage in illegal sexual. activities or to try to groom these.

young people. I mean, they're out there. and and we have prosecuted them in my. old office, the feds, prosecutors, you. see um from so many cases where the. penalties are very tough here and the. penalties shouldn't be tough because. unfortunately you can't catch everyone. And the hope is is that enough of these. sentences are out there to send the. message. But as I said to begin this. with, you know, that you can have all. these proactive initiatives out there. and yet people will still do it because. there's something in their brain that. just says, I'm going to disregard all.

this other stuff because they want to. see these images. And that's why it's. important to go after not just the. supply, but the demand because you have. to go after these individuals. these. people if they don't get what they are. looking for they will either find it. somewhere else or they'll create it. themselves and and be a generator of. these images and so that's why it's. really damaging to the public to young. people to animals our pets and I'm glad. that law enforcement here was able to.

get a conviction here that this guy will. die in prison. >> and real quick before I let you go. parents that are watching this and. saying this guy was a former teacher he. was at the school making content of of. the kids there. I mean, what are they. supposed to do in terms of should I I. cover these cases all the time about. educators and administrators and. teachers acting badly. I mean, this one. stands out for all different kinds of. reasons. How are they supposed to. protect their children uh in today's day. and age at schools? >> Well, they have to also realize it's.

it's it's also coming into their homes. And that's I think the biggest thing. that I educate parents about is that. there's a lot of misinformation about. this stuff. They think that the big. threat uh out there, you see groups out. there that say you got to watch out the. southern border, they're going to steal. your kids and kidnap them. But really. the bigger threat is that these. individuals will come into your homes. through the internet and your kids will. be on these websites and give their. information or be lulled into sending. pictures to these folks who portray.

themselves as fellow young people. And. you got to be vigilant and you got to. know what sites your kids are on. I'll. bet you a lot of parents, they know. Facebook, but they do they know Discord. Do they know Kick? Do they know all. these other sites that their kids could. be on? Some of the gaming apps allow you. to interact with individuals who will. come in there and become groomers. So, it's very important to know that yes, it. there is kidnapping across the southern. border, but that's more Hollywood than. reality. What is real is the stuff is. coming inside your home through the. internet.

>> Dave Aaronburgg, thank you so much for. coming on to explain a little bit more. about this. Hope everybody checks out. your Substack where you can talk about. all the big legal issues of the day. But. uh always appreciate you taking the. time, sir. >> Thank you, Jesse. Great show. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can follow me on X. [music] or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.