Pennsylvania authorities charge New Jersey deputy attorney general over AI child-abuse images

A New Jersey deputy attorney general was arrested and charged in Pennsylvania on October 15, 2026, after investigators linked a Discord account to his home. Brian Richard Fitzgerald, 51, allegedly created and shared AI-generated child sexual abuse material, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, which announced the felony case.

Fitzgerald is a deputy attorney general for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and lives in Lower Makefield Township, Pennsylvania. Bucks County Detectives and township police investigated the case. The charges are allegations, and Fitzgerald is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

From a Discord file to a home search

According to the district attorney’s account of the probable-cause affidavit, the investigation began with a CyberTip forwarded by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. It concerned an illicit image file that a Discord user allegedly shared on July 10, 2026.

Investigators used digital forensics and subscriber records to connect the account and its associated internet protocol addresses to Fitzgerald’s residence. That account-to-address trail led to a search warrant executed at his home on October 15.

Authorities say the search recovered prompts and scripts used with an AI program to generate child sexual abuse material. They also say recovered Discord chat logs showed Fitzgerald admitting that he had made multiple illicit images using AI and shared them with other users.

The alleged conduct goes beyond AI generation

Ars Technica reported that officials accused Fitzgerald of using photographs of real minors taken from social media to create sexualized images, then distributing the altered images on social media. That describes an allegation involving real children’s photographs, rather than solely images of invented people.

The district attorney’s release also alleges that Fitzgerald acquired child sexual abuse material depicting real children through another social media platform and shared it. The case therefore includes allegations of acquiring and distributing such material alongside the alleged AI image creation.

No one is above the law, least of all someone entrusted with upholding it.

Joe Khan, Bucks County district attorney

Felony charges and an October hearing

Fitzgerald was arrested at his home on the morning of October 15 and arraigned that day. Authorities listed three felony charges:

• Possession of child sexual abuse material.
• Dissemination of photos or film of child sexual abuse materials.
• Criminal use of a communication facility.

Magisterial District Judge Corryn L. Kronnagel set bail at $2 million, with a 10 percent provision, and remanded Fitzgerald to Bucks County Correctional Facility. The district attorney’s office said a preliminary hearing was scheduled for later in October.