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Crime & Justice

N.J. state prosecutor used AI to create and share child pornography, Bucks DA says

Brian Fitzgerald has worked for 10 years as a deputy attorney general in New Jersey, handling insurance fraud cases, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Brian Fitzgerald has been charged with possessing and disseminating child pornography.
Brian Fitzgerald has been charged with possessing and disseminating child pornography.Read moreAlejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

A state prosecutor in New Jersey used AI to create and share child pornography under the username “the gentleman pervert,” according to investigators in Bucks County.

Brian Fitzgerald, 51, has been charged with possessing and disseminating child pornography. The Lower Makefield resident remained in custody Friday, in lieu of 10% of $2 million bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.

Fitzgerald has worked for 10 years as a deputy attorney general in New Jersey, handling insurance fraud cases, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also serves on the state’s ethics board, investigating allegations of misconduct against his fellow attorneys.

Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan, in announcing Fitzgerald’s arrest, said he “will pursue these cases aggressively and hold offenders fully accountable, regardless of their profession or title.”

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

In a statement, the Office of the Attorney General said they were aware of Fitzgerald’s arrest and are cooperating with Khan’s investigation.

They are taking “appropriate actions toward his employment,” according to the statement.

Detectives began investigating Fitzgerald earlier this year, when they received an online tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that a Discord account had uploaded child pornography in July, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.

Investigators linked the account, which used the username “thegentlemanpervert_2160_07833,” to Fitzgerald and his home on Edgewood Road in Lower Makefield.

After serving a search warrant there Thursday, detectives recovered chat logs from Fitzgerald’s Discord account in which he admitted to using AI to generate the child pornography, the affidavit said.

He is scheduled to appear before a district judge for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 27.

    Vinny Vella
    I write about how law enforcement investigates crime in Philly's collar counties — Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery — and tell the stories of the people affected by it.