Crime & Safety
Child Porn Charges Filed Against Ex-Pikesville AD Accused In AI Case: Prosecutor
Child porn charges were filed against an ex-Pikesville High athletic director. He's also accused in the racist artificial intelligence case.
PIKESVILLE, MD — The ex-athletic director accused of framing his Pikesville High principal with a fake artificial intelligence recording was arrested Monday on federal child pornography charges, prosecutors said.
The Department of Justice announced that 32-year-old Dazhon Darien of Baltimore was charged with sexual exploitation of a child and receiving child sexual abuse material.
The DOJ alleged that Darien's phones and online accounts contained child sexual abuse material. Prosecutors accused Darien of using "CashApp to pay a minor victim to send videos of himself engaged in sexually explicit conduct" between December 2023 and March 2024. Investigators further alleged that Darien "received other child-sexual-abuse-material files, including some that depicted prepubescent minors."
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Darien faces 15 to 30 years in federal prison if convicted of the sexual exploitation of a child charge. Another five to 20 years are possible on the receipt of child sexual abuse material charge.
The Baltimore Banner reported that FBI special agents arrested Darien during a court hearing for his separate AI charges, one day before his trial was set to begin in the case.
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Darien is accused of using artificial intelligence to create the fake recording of then Pikesville High School Principal Eric Eiswert making racist remarks. Authorities said the audio file was entirely fabricated and made by a computer. Eiswert did not make those comments.
The Baltimore County Police Department said it launched its investigation on Jan. 17, 2024, and arrested Darien on April 25, 2024.
Officers think Darien made the fake recording to retaliate against Eiswert, who at the time was pursuing an investigation into the potential mishandling of school funds.
Maryland court records show that Darien was charged with theft worth $1,500 to $25,000, disturbing school operations, retaliation against a witness, stalking and intimidating/influencing a juror. Of those state charges, theft is the only felony. The other counts are misdemeanors.
Eiswert filed a lawsuit against Darien and Baltimore County Public Schools earlier this month. The Banner said the suit raised counts of defamation and negligent hiring, retention and/or supervision.
The Banner previously reported in May 2024 that it "found at least 29 false claims on four job applications using two different names" for Darien.
"He didn't get degrees he claims to hold," The Banner wrote. "He never worked for a Division I college football team. He didn't have a teaching license or meet the minimum qualifications for his job."
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