Lawmakers advance bill to add state felony charges for AI-generated child sexual abuse material
- Alaska Beacon
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
The bill seeks to expand existing state law around CSAM to also prohibit AI-generated CSAM, which is currently only prosecuted by federal law enforcement
By Corinne Smith
Alaska Beacon
Alaska lawmakers advanced a bill on Friday that would create new state felony charges for the crime of using artificial intelligence to generate child sexual abuse material.
The House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed House Bill 47, sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer on Friday. CSAM, formerly referred to as child pornography, is any material that visually depicts sexually explicit or obscene conduct involving a child under the age of 18.
Vance told lawmakers that AI-generated CSAM is a growing problem that is already affecting Alaska communities. “AI-generated CSAM poses serious risk to children by enabling perpetrators to produce highly realistic virtual images of child abuse,” Vance said in a presentation to lawmakers ahead of the vote. “These images are often indistinguishable from real ones, complicating identification by experts and overwhelming law enforcement’s ability to identify real victims.”
Additionally, she said AI-generated images can be used as blackmail. “These realistic, synthetic images create new avenues for predators to exploit minors and their families through extortion and financial coercion, significantly escalating harm and trauma,” she said.
Vance said she introduced the legislation after an Army soldier stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was arrested for creating AI-generated CSAM in 2024.
Vance said the case revealed to her that Alaska law does not have a statute addressing AI-generated CSAM. “But that soldier was prosecuted under federal law, not state law,” Vance said. “Currently, Alaska must rely on federal prosecutions due to our lack of a statute addressing this issue.”
She said she has heard from constituents that the state’s lack of AI-specific CSAM laws is a concern.
“I also had some mothers in Homer contact me probably about a year and a half ago now that their 13-year-old daughters had been subject to the use of AI,” Vance added. “They went to law enforcement, and Homer Police Department said, ‘Alaska statutes do not address AI-generated use of images.’ And so this hit really close to home for me.”
Homer Police Department officials said they investigated the case and the Kenai District Attorney’s Office charged two middle school boys with exploitation of a minor after they created AI-generated nude images of classmates.
While there is no Alaska state law specifically addressing AI-generated CSAM, there are statutes that prohibit the viewing, possession or distribution of CSAM.
“Basically, any depiction of photograph, audio, video recording, drawing, anything like that, if it depicts children being involved in certain sexual simulations or exploitation, then that’s considered exploitation of a minor,” said Lt. Ryan Browning with the Homer Police Department. “We felt like that was enough to meet the probable cause for the statute.”
Statewide, the Alaska Department of Public Safety works with local and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate each CSAM case reported, said Austin McDaniel, director of communications for the agency.
McDaniel said the department does not have data available on the number of recent cases involving AI generated materials. By email, he said the department has received reports of AI-generated CSAM, but he said those reports are not “prevalent.”
He said a team of more than ten investigators work in a unit within the Alaska Bureau of Investigation focused solely on CSAM-related crimes.
“All that they do is child sexual abuse material investigations, or CSAM investigations, and they certainly and unfortunately, stay busy throughout the year,” he said. He noted a “vast number” of cases are reported to the Anchorage Police Department.
State public safety officials received 330 reports of alleged CSAM or child exploitation related crimes in 2024, the most recent year of publicly available data. “We go through and investigate those instances, refer charges to state prosecutors, or work very closely with our federal partners when it might be better to pursue federal charges against somebody versus state charges,” McDaniel said.
Sexual violence is prevalent across Alaska — and 51% of reported victims were minors in 2024. McDaniel noted the most common age of victims of sexual offenses is 13 years old.
“So between our CSAM investigations or child sexual abuse investigations, you know, we are certainly kept very busy,” he said. “And we are working across the state, around the clock to investigate those instances and to hold anyone that victimizes Alaska’s kids accountable for their actions.”
Angela Kemp, deputy attorney general for the criminal division of the Alaska Department of Law, said currently the state has to prove that an actual child was used to create the sexual abuse material to prosecute the case. She said investigators use digital forensic tools to determine if the material is AI-generated, or whether there is a child victim.
“For cases where we cannot prove an actual child was used, law enforcement works with our federal partners to determine whether the conduct can be prosecuted under federal law,” she said.
Vance said if the legislation is passed, it would criminalize all possession of AI-generated CSAM. “It’s hard to distinguish if there was a real victim involved, or if it is all generated through AI technology, this bill would allow them to say all of it is prosecutable,” she said.
The bill would also enact new sentencing guidelines for AI-generated CSAM, and depending on the charges and prior felony convictions, offenders could face two to 99 years in prison.
The bill has been referred to the House Rules Committee, which will determine whether it will go to the full House of Representatives for a vote. If passed, the bill would need to be considered and approved by the Senate to become law.
• Corinne Smith started reporting in Alaska in 2020, serving as a radio reporter for several local stations across the state including in Petersburg, Haines, Homer and Dillingham. She spent two summers covering the Bristol Bay fishing season. Originally from Oakland, California, she got her start as a reporter, then morning show producer, at KPFA Radio in Berkeley. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
