Fitzgerald’s is a rare case in which an official employed by the state’s top law enforcement office has been charged with manufacturing and distributing AI CSAM, although some police officers have been arrested for the crime. Earlier this year, a Pennsylvania police officer was arrested for making AI pornography from driver’s license photos, and more recently in Korea, a police officer was arrested for making AI pornography, including CSAM, The Korea Times reported.
In New Jersey, the deputy attorney general has been charged with possession of CSAM, dissemination of photographs or films of CSAM and “criminal use of a communications facility,” detectives said.
According to his LinkedIn, Fitzgerald had served as deputy attorney general since 2016, preparing insurance fraud and insurance licensing cases for trial as a state prosecutor. New Jersey District Attorney Joe Khan said in a statement that New Jersey is aligned with the Department of Justice in considering AI-enabled CSAM to be as harmful as CSAM.
“No one is above the law, least of all someone who has been entrusted with the task of enforcing it,” Khan said. “Our office will aggressively pursue these cases and hold violators fully accountable, regardless of their profession or title.”
