As per court records and statements from the U.S. Department of Justice, a pediatrician from North Carolina was convicted in May on multiple charges related to child sexual abuse images and videos and has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.
David Tatum, aged 41, who practiced in Charlotte, N.C., was sentenced on Wednesday for utilizing artificial intelligence to create explicit images of children involved in sexual activities, as stated in a DOJ address.
The charges Tatum was found guilty of in May included possession, production, and transportation of child sexual content, according to trial data cited in the address. These offenses were committed between 2016 and 2021.
The statement also revealed that Tatum surreptitiously recorded individuals, including a person who had recently turned 18, and manipulated images of children using an AI program to depict them in compromising situations. One image was doctored to show an altered scene at a school dance, while another was used to depict young children’s first day at school.
Court documents reviewed by PEOPLE disclosed that Tatum covertly installed a hidden camera in a Maine bathroom during a vacation to capture nude images of a 15-year-old child.
Additionally, Tatum was reported to have recorded inappropriate footage of a minor under their skirt during a therapy session, as per the court records.
Federal authorities were first alerted to Tatum’s possession of child sexual abuse images in September 2021 following a tip from an individual, according to Lia Bantavani, director for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of North Carolina.
The FBI Charlotte Special Agent in Charge DeWitt expressed shock and dismay at the violation of trust by an individual entrusted with the care of children with mental health challenges, as highlighted in the DOJ statement.
After serving a 40-year sentence, Tatum will be subject to 30 years of supervised release, along with a fine of $99,000 and additional restitution payments of an unspecified amount, as outlined in the DOJ speech. For the latest crime updates, trial reports, and intriguing unsolved cases, readers can subscribe to PEOPLE’s complimentary True Crime newsletter.
