LOWER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A New Jersey deputy attorney general from Bucks County is being held on $2 million bail after authorities say he used artificial intelligence to create child sexual abuse material and shared it online, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said.
Brian Richard Fitzgerald, 51, of Lower Makefield Township, was arrested at his home Thursday morning, Oct. 15, 2026, following an investigation by Bucks County Detectives and the Lower Makefield Township Police Department.
How the investigation began
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the case started when the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) forwarded a CyberTip reporting that a Discord user had shared an illicit image file on July 10, 2026. Investigators said digital forensics and subscriber records linked the account and associated IP addresses to Fitzgerald’s home on Edgewood Road in Lower Makefield.
When detectives served a search warrant at the home Thursday, they recovered prompts and scripts used to generate child sexual abuse material with an AI program, the DA’s office said. Discord chat logs showed Fitzgerald admitted to making multiple illicit images with AI and sharing them with other users, according to investigators.
The investigation also found he acquired child sexual abuse material depicting real children through another social media platform and shared that material as well, the DA’s office said.
Charges and bail
Fitzgerald is charged with possession of child sexual abuse material, dissemination of photos or film of child sexual abuse material, and criminal use of a communication facility. All three charges are felonies.
Magisterial District Judge Corryn L. Kronnagel set bail at $2 million, 10 percent, and remanded him to the Bucks County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for later this month.
“No one is above the law, least of all someone entrusted with upholding it,” District Attorney Joe Khan said. “Our office will pursue these cases aggressively and hold offenders fully accountable, regardless of their profession or title.”
New Jersey AG’s office responds
Fitzgerald works as a deputy attorney general in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. In a statement to FOX29, the office said it is aware of the charges against an employee of its Division of Law, is cooperating with the Bucks County DA’s Office, and is “taking appropriate action with respect to his employment.”
The case was investigated by Bucks County Detective Eric Landamia and Lower Makefield Detective Peter Lange.
Criminal charges are allegations subject to proof in court. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Photo: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
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