STUART, Fla. — As more people explore the benefits of AI, others are finding ways to exploit it.
This week, the Martin County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) arrested Leonel Alvarado-Lizano, 29, for asking an artificial intelligence platform to generate over 1,000 images of child pornography.
"This individual that was arrested was depicting grown adults having sexual intercourse with infants children under three years old, so that shows you the mindset that this pervert had,” Sheriff John Budensiek said.
This case was the first of its kind at the Sheriff’s Office following the introduction of a Florida Law that makes it a crime to possess or create computer-generated child pornography.
Budensiek said the evidence in the case is extensive.
“We can see exactly what that individual was thinking, meaning they went on there and said they wanted to see a certain sex act with a certain aged child with a certain type of adult,” he said.
These AI crimes are a new territory for both law enforcement and organizations, like Catch the Wave of Hope, which fights child exploitation.
“It's almost made it easier for these predators,” Catch the Wave of Hope Executive Director Sarah Marie Henry said. “These predators don't even have to leave their house anymore right to to exploit a child and a child may not even know that they're being exploited.”
WATCH: Why organizations are concerned that although AI is being used to generate photos, this is not a victimless crime
Henry warns parents how AI can manipulate real photos of children.
These predators can take an image from social media or wherever, and then copy, paste, and alter it to an AI sort of image where maybe it's just a picture of a face, but they put the face on the body," Henry said.
Sheriff Budensiek said while it seems like a victimless crime, he worries it could be a stepping stone to something even more egregious.
“We’ve seen in the past where individuals progress down this path of if they have the opportunity they actually act on their sexual impulses,” Budensiek said.
Alvarado-Lizano faces 20 counts of possession of AI-generated child pornography, a third-degree felony. He was given a $52,000 bond.
