Police say 'Thegentleman Pervert' who produces CSAM's AI is a New Jersey prosecutor

Discord user flags AI CSAM, prompts arrest of New Jersey Deputy AG

Discord user flags AI CSAM, prompts arrest of New Jersey Deputy AG.

New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Brian Richard Fitzgerald was arrested on "felony child sexual abuse substance (CSAM) charges by AI," Bucks County detectives said in a press release Thursday.

In the US, police have been committed to cracking down on AI CSAM since at least 2024, when the Justice Department made one of the first arrests. After accusing a Wisconsin man of posting "thousands of real images of pre-pubescent minors" on Telegram and Instagram, the Justice Department explained to law enforcement that "AI-generated CSAM is still CSAM."

On Thursday, New Jersey authorities charged Fitzgerald, 51, with using artificial intelligence to manipulate social media photos of real minors into sexually suggestive images that he then distributed on social media.

After a search on Thursday, police found "suggestions and scripts used to artificially create child sexual abuse material using an artificial intelligence program," the press release said. They also found Discord chat logs in which Fitzgerald, under the Discord username "thegentlemanpervert_2160_07833," allegedly "admitted to creating several illegal images using artificial intelligence and sharing them with other users."

Fitzgerald is a rare case in which an official employed by the state's top law enforcement and legal department has been charged with building and distributing CSAM AI, although some police officers have been charged and arrested for committing the crime. Earlier this year, a Pennsylvania police officer was arrested for making AI porn from driver's license photos, and recently in Korea, a police officer was arrested for making AI porn, including CSAM, the Korea Times reported.

In New Jersey, the deputy attorney general has been charged with possessing a CSAM, publishing photos or videos of a CSAM and "criminal use of a communications facility," detectives said.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Fitzgerald has served as a deputy attorney general since 2016, preparing insurance fraud and insurance fraud cases for trial as a state attorney. New Jersey District Attorney Joe Khan said in a statement that New Jersey aligns with the Department of Justice and considers CSAM's AI to be just as harmful as CSAM.

"No one is above the law, least of all the one who is tasked with upholding it," Khan said. "Our office will strictly follow these cases and hold the violators fully accountable regardless of their profession or title."

Ashley is a senior policy reporter for Ars Technica, dedicated to tracking the social impacts of emerging policies and new technologies. He is a Chicago-based journalist with 20 years of experience.