Alberta football coach faces sentence for making AI sex images

LETHBRIDGE — A girls’ football coach who used artificial intelligence to create sexualized images of some of his players hung his head in court Friday as he listened to the ripple effects of the pain.

“It was my face; it was my name. It was me,” one of victims told Justin Tillery at his sentencing hearing.

“The humiliation is real. The fear is real. The betrayal is real. I felt sick. I felt ashamed of something I didn’t do.

“Every day I wonder if my image is still out there. I wonder if someone is looking at it right now.”

It was one of three victim impact statements.

Tillery, 39, was originally charged in 2025 with making, distributing, possessing and accessing child pornography, as well as transmitting an intimate image without consent. He eventually pleaded guilty to making, printing or publishing pornography as well as possessing child pornography.

Special prosecutor Tara Hayes read the agreed statement of facts into the record. She said Tillery and a longtime friend had been sharing the images. They exchanged lewd comments about the girls, prompting Tillery in one text message to say, “We are going to hell with gasoline boots on for sure.”

Hayes urged the judge impose a sentence of two years in prison and three years’ probation.

Tillery’s lawyer, Scott Hadford, asked the judge to consider a sentence to be served in the community. He said Tillery has no criminal record and entered a guilty plea.

“At the end of the day, there’s still a difference in the making of child pornography when it’s AI versus when it’s real,” Hadford said.

The case will be back in court Nov. 6 to choose a date for sentencing.

An expert on online harm said deep fake pornography is becoming more common because of the ease and sophistication of current technology. Kaitlynn Mendes of Western University said all it takes is for someone to have a photo of a person to upload.

“You need no skills. You just need their face, and the tech can make an image. It can make videos,” Mendes said in an interview.

Mendes is a sociology professor at Western University and interim academic director for the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children.

She said emerging research suggests that while the art is fake, the trauma is not. “The impacts are as real as if the image was real,” she said.

“Psychologically, you don’t know who has these images and those people may or may not know that these images are fake.

“So I can imagine this is creating a lot of anxiety for these young people.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2026.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press