A North Smithfield man who worked as an instructor at gymnastics, dance and cheerleading facilities across Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts is now facing federal charges after prosecutors say he filmed a child and used photos of kids to generate artificial intelligence images and videos depicting child sexual abuse. Joseph Mello was arraigned Monday and remains held pending a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday.
According to WJAR, federal prosecutors allege Mello attempted to create child sexual abuse material by filming a child in a bathroom and changing area at a dance studio where he himself took classes. Officials further allege he took photos of multiple children at facilities where he worked and used those images to generate AI-created depictions of child sexual abuse, the station reported. He was arrested and charged with attempted production of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, possession of and access with intent to view child pornography, and production of obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children, per officials cited in the report.
The Rhode Island U.S. Attorney's Office said a former instructor at gymnastics and dance facilities was arrested after allegedly filming a minor and creating AI-generated child sexual abuse material. WJAR's report lists Mello's age as 38, though an earlier WPRI report on a separate video-voyeurism case against him gave his age as 37; the discrepancy is not explained in available reporting.
Earlier Voyeurism Case and Bail Conditions
That earlier case, also covered by WPRI, detailed Mello's arrest after detectives searched his Pacheco Drive home and charged him with video voyeurism. Court records reviewed by the station showed Mello posted $2,000 surety bail and was ordered to have no contact with the victim or any minors. It is not clear from available reporting how that earlier case relates procedurally to the new federal charges.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles C. Calenda said rapidly evolving technology can be weaponized to exploit children, adding that the defendant allegedly used AI and other digital tools to create sexually explicit depictions of real children. “Behind every image is a child victim whose safety, privacy, and dignity have been violated,” Calenda said. The U.S. Attorney's Office and law enforcement partners said they remain committed to protecting children, identifying victims, and holding accountable those who use technology to facilitate child exploitation.
A Growing Pattern of AI-Related Reports
Mello's case arrives amid a broader rise in reports related to generative AI nationally. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says more than 275 direct victims of generative-AI child sexual abuse material were identified in 2024 and 2025 combined, and the organization has categorized more than 158,000 images and videos submitted in CyberTipline reports as AI-generated between January 2023 and December 2025. More than 7,000 of those reports involved users generating or possessing such material, while more than 30,000 involved attempts to generate it using an uploaded file paired with text prompts, according to the organization.
Researchers at Stanford Cyberlaw caution that not every report flagged as “AI-related” actually involves AI-generated abuse material. The group found that at least 78 percent of AI-related reports NCMEC received in the first half of 2025 did not involve any AI-generated child sexual abuse material at all, noting that platforms use the CyberTipline's AI checkbox inconsistently, according to a letter published by Stanford Cyberlaw. Separately, Stanford researchers compiled a dataset of 71 federal criminal prosecutions filed between 2022 and the end of 2025 involving AI-generated sexually explicit imagery of real or imaginary children, and found that most of those cases ended in conviction, with prison sentences higher than average for child sexual abuse material and obscenity cases.
Similar Cases Involving Gym and Studio Settings
Mello's alleged use of a dance studio bathroom and changing area echoes a separate case out of Mississippi, where a former gymnastics coach was sentenced to 90 years in prison last month. Mississippi Today reported that Sean Gardner was sentenced to 90 years for secretly recording young female students undressing and using the bathroom at a gym, after he pleaded guilty to placing a hidden camera in a bathroom at a Purvis, Mississippi, gymnastics studio between December 2017 and April 2018.
Federal obscenity law addresses the production and distribution of certain visual depictions involving minors in connection with interstate or foreign commerce, according to a citizen's guide published by the U.S. Department of Justice. His detention hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
