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First person in Maricopa County charged for AI-generated CSAM - 12News
A Maricopa County, Arizona man has been indicted on charges related to AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), marking the county's first case of its kind.
- Incident date
- May 2026
- Target
- Child victims
Updated May 13, 2026 · 1 min read
In May 2026, a man in Maricopa County, Arizona, was indicted on charges related to AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This marks the first such case in the county.
What happened
William Powderly, 44, was indicted on 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Police investigated Powderly after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Authorities allegedly found him in possession of numerous CSAM images, two of which used AI to swap a child's face onto explicit material of another young female.