New Jersey deputy attorney general arrested for AI child abuse material

Brian Richard Fitzgerald, a 51-year-old deputy attorney general for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, has been arrested and charged with three felonies in Pennsylvania. The charges include possession of child sexual abuse material, dissemination of child sexual abuse materials, and criminal use of a communication facility.

The investigation followed a July 10 cybertip regarding material shared on the Discord social media platform. Law enforcement identified Fitzgerald through the username ‘thegentlemanpervert_2160_07833’ and recovered chat logs in which he allegedly admitted to creating AI-generated child sexual abuse material. Investigators also reportedly seized AI prompts and scripts used in the creation process.

Fitzgerald, who resides in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, has worked for the New Jersey Division of Law since 2016, specifically within the Banking and Insurance section. In addition to the AI-generated content, detectives stated that Fitzgerald used another social media platform to access and share material involving real human victims.