Illinois authorities charge man linked to 50,000 AI child-abuse images and videos

An Illinois man faces 13 felony counts after an investigation that authorities say linked him to more than 50,000 AI-generated child sexual abuse images and videos. Mark Hansen, 42, was arrested following a search of his Antioch-area home. Investigators are now examining seized devices and determining whether any images depict real children.

Tips dating to June 2025 led to the search

The investigation began with information from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said its Internet Crimes Against Children team learned that an electronic device in the county was being used to create AI-generated child sexual abuse material.

At Friday’s court appearance, Assistant State’s Attorney Lillian Lewis described 10 cyber tips dating to June 2025. Those tips indicated Hansen had used a cellphone to prompt AI tools from Facebook and xAI to produce the material, according to Lake and McHenry County Scanner’s account of her statements.

Lewis said subscriber information and other data led detectives to Hansen’s home in unincorporated Antioch. The sheriff’s office, county prosecutors and Illinois Attorney General’s Office executed a search warrant there on October 8, 2026. The search brought investigators into contact with Hansen and gave them access to devices for forensic examination.

Hansen acknowledged that the accounts and email addresses belonged to him and that he had used AI platforms to generate the material, Lewis alleged. She said he also admitted saving it in an encrypted location on his computer. Analysts recovered two laptops and his cellphone, finding material in a hidden encrypted folder on one laptop.

The account total and the charged files

Lake County Sheriff’s Office Chief Christopher Covelli placed the larger figure in online accounts: he said Hansen was associated with more than 50,000 AI-generated child sexual abuse images and videos there. Lewis separately described hundreds of images and video clips uncovered by analysts, who were still working through a large amount of data.

The 13 counts concern a smaller set of files. Lewis said they cover eight AI-generated videos found in Hansen’s online accounts and five AI-generated images recovered by analysts. All depict girls under 13, she said, and the charged material represents only a small portion of what investigators recovered.

Lewis described the children depicted as realistic rather than cartoon-like or anime figures. She alleged that Hansen used an AI platform to build two chatbots that produced the material. The prosecution’s account therefore concerns alleged creation through AI services, as well as the files investigators say were stored in accounts and on a laptop.

It is also important to note that these are not the actions of someone simply possessing material while sitting in the privacy of a home – this is someone online, using external resources and external access, to create material, not simply sit and possess,

Lillian Lewis, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney

Charges proceed while investigators seek real children

Hansen is charged with obscene depiction of a purported child, a Class 2 felony. Lewis said the Illinois law covering AI-generated material took effect March 21, 2025, and carries enhanced penalties when the children depicted are under 13. She said a conviction would also require Hansen to register as a sex offender.

Whether real children were used to create the material remains under investigation. Lewis said prompts included a child’s name and state, along with the name of a website known to law enforcement for child sexual abuse material. Detectives are trying to locate that child and determine whether other real children were used.

At the October 9 morning court appearance, prosecutors filed a petition to detain Hansen pending trial. Judge Michael Nerheim ordered him held until a detention hearing scheduled for that afternoon. Authorities anticipate additional charges as the examination of the seized devices continues.