Former Pikesville athletic director in AI deepfake scandal gets 20 years for child exploitation

Dazhon Darien, the former athletic director at Pikesville High School, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting children online. 

Darien has a prior conviction in Baltimore County connected to creating a racist artificial intelligence recording to retaliate against his principal at the time. 

WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren was in court for the former educator's tearful apology. 

"I'm sorry"

Darien wept in front of Judge James K. Bredar and cited his own past sexual abuse, depression, and dependence on alcohol and prescription drugs during his crimes.

While under investigation for using AI to create a fraudulent, racist, antisemitic recording to retaliate against Eric Eiswert, his principal at Pikesville High School, Darien was sending explicit messages to at least eight children online, prosecutors said.

The victims ranged in age from 14 to 17 years old. He would pay the boys to send him sexually explicit videos.

Investigators said they also found more than 600 images of prepubescent child porn on his devices. 

"I'm sorry," Darien said as he wept while asking Judge Bredar for mercy. "My entire life I've been abused emotionally, physically, sexually, mentally. I spent my life feeling alone. I never felt wanted or loved by anyone but my mother."

He told Judge Bredar, "You have a lot of information that creates the picture of a monster. I am the furthest thing from that."

Darien noted none of the victims were his students.

"All of these decisions were mine and mine alone," he told the court. 

None of the victims or their families were present. Prosecutors said the family of one victim planned to attend but ultimately decided not to do so. 

The victims included children from Baltimore City, Prince George's County, Houston, and Las Vegas. 

Two of Darien's loved ones who showed up in court did not speak before the judge and declined to comment to WJZ Investigates after the proceedings. 

Darien's mother wrote a letter stating in part, "I will continue to believe that his life has value, that his future has value…"

But Bredar said Darien "lacks insight into the nature of his offenses and the harms they caused."

The judge said he believes the deepfake AI recording Darien created to frame his former principal shows he can "supercharge his manipulative [nature]."

Darien already received a 4-month sentence for disturbing school operations last year. He entered an Alford plea, where he maintained his innocence while admitting prosecutors had enough evidence for a conviction.

Showing some mercy 

Yet Judge Bredar did show leniency in the sexual exploitation case, sentencing Darien to 20 years, which is below the 21 years prosecutors wanted and less than the 30 years federal guidelines recommended.

Darien's attorney Julie Reamy, who declined comment outside court, had asked for 17 years. 

"A man should not be defined by his worst moments," Reamy told Bredar. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Budlow called Darien's crimes "a violation of trust" as an educator that permanently damaged his child victims. 

What's next? 

Darien has been incarcerated since January 2025. 

Even after Darien's release following the 20-year sentence, he will be subjected to 30 years of supervised probation including no contact with children. 

Reamy objected to a probation provision prohibiting Darien's contact with his own children. She said Darien and his fiancé were hopeful to have children of their own in the future.

Bredar left the condition intact. 

Darien said when he is released, he wants to start a non-profit to help veterans like his parents. 

"While I'll never be able to coach or teach again, I do plan to make an impact with my life," he said.

Darien alleged he was the subject of "extreme abuse and harassment at work" in Baltimore County schools. 

But prosecutors in the AI deepfake case previously slammed Darien's conduct. 

"What he did was reprehensible, had a great impact on Pikesville High School and Mr. Eiswert himself," Baltimore County Deputy State's Attorney John Cox told WJZ in April 2025. 

Cox also spoke about the AI recording, noting "the capabilities are frightening" to "create a public impression of something that is just absolutely not true."

Eiswert, the former principal, later settled a lawsuit against the school system alleging, among other things, that Baltimore County Public Schools failed to vet Darien's qualifications before hiring him.