Elliston Berry could never have imagined being in the gallery during President Donald Trump’s recent address to Congress.
In choosing to fight the cyberbully who posted pornographic AI images of her and eight friends, she was sitting on First Lady Melania Trump’s left.
“Incredible!” was how Elliston described the evening.
The Aledo High School sophomore was just 14 years old the morning of October 2, 2023, when she woke up to find her world had been turned upside down. Her mortification could not have been more swift or complete.
“I didn’t know how to tell my parents, what do I say?”
But her mother, Anna McAdams, said she knew Elliston’s heart, and knew the images were false.
“We were completely shattered,” her mother recalled.
It took a couple of days for Elliston to decide what to do.
Stay out of school for a while?
Change schools?
She chose to stay in her high school and fight, with the complete support of family and friends.
“I could not let him win,” Elliston said of her abuser.
The male student responsible for the images is on probation and will have his record expunged when he turns 18.
“We never had our day in court,” McAdams said, “it never even made it to the DA. He will simply walk away, while our girls will always live in fear that these images may reappear.”
After testifying before Congress in June, 2024, Elliston won the support of Senators Ted Cruz (R - Texas) and Amy Klobuchar (D - Minnesota).
Cruz introduced the S.146 “Take It Down” bill to Congress in January 2025. It recently passed both Houses of Congress.
Working closely with Cruz’s office, Elliston was instrumental in the legislation’s inception and completion.
The bipartisan bill criminalizes the malicious use of AI, while empowering deepfake revenge porn victims. It requires AI pornographic images to be removed from the internet within 48 hours of being reported.
Attending the First Lady’s Round Table concerning Take It Down, Elliston met Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Border Czar Mike Holman, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Klobuchar.
“Senator Klobuchar is who told the First Lady about me and our efforts,” Elliston said, “Because of Mrs. Trump’s “Be Best” campaign during her first term, Senator Klobuchar thought she’d be interested in getting behind us.”
Be Best focuses on the well-being of youth and fighting cyberbullying, which includes revenge porn, and has been restarted during Trump’s second tenure.
Always interested in becoming a therapist, Elliston says her experience has only caused to affirm her intention, but is also considering law school. When asked if politics were out of the question, she grinned with an emphathic, “No!”
Elliston’s abuser ultimately left school, so her days are a bit brighter than when he was still enrolled.
She is looking forward to returning to Washington DC to be in attendance when President Trump signs her Take It Down bill into legislation.
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