A Florida man, Leonel Alvarado-Lizano, has been charged with possession of over a thousand AI-generated child pornography images, marking a concerning intersection of technology abuse and criminality. According to CBS12, Alvarado-Lizano faces 20 counts of third-degree felonies for the crime.

"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,” Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek conveyed the disturbing nature of the content to NBC Miami. The recent Florida law that criminalizes the possession or creation of computer-generated child pornography backs the charges against the suspect.

Authorities express concern over the ease with which predators can exploit children using AI without the victims even being aware. "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," Sarah Marie Henry, Executive Director of Catch the Wave of Hope, elucidated the dangers to NBC Miami. 

The Martin County Sheriff's Office, in an alarming warning, highlighted the potential escalation of criminal behavior linked to this case. “We’ve seen in the past where individuals progress down this path if they have the opportunity they actually act on their sexual impulses,” Budensiek said, as reported by NBC Miami. Alvarado-Lizano is currently held on $52,000 bond.