A detective calls about a sexual image created with artificial intelligence. Police want your phone, computer, or access to an online account. You are worried about your family, your job, and who else could learn about the investigation.

You may assume that an image that was never a real photograph cannot support criminal charges. That assumption can leave you unprepared. AI-generated sexual images can become part of a New Jersey or federal investigation, although not every artificial image is illegal.

The answer depends on what the image depicts, whether it uses an identifiable person’s likeness, including a child’s, how it was created or used, and what the digital evidence shows about your involvement.

Before explaining anything to the police, you should understand what they are investigating and what prosecutors would have to prove.

Is AI-Generated Porn Illegal in New Jersey?

Not automatically. A fictional sexual image involving adults presents different legal issues from a realistic image that falsely depicts an identifiable person. Images involving minors require a separate analysis under New Jersey and federal law.

New Jersey’s deepfake law took effect on April 2, 2025. It applies to technologically created or altered media that a reasonable person would believe realistically depicts someone saying, doing, or writing something that never occurred. The law does not criminalize deceptive media merely because it exists.

Under N.J.S.A. 2C:21-17.8, creating deceptive media without license or privilege is a third-degree crime when it is done to attempt or further another crime or offense, or with knowledge that someone else will use it for that purpose. Soliciting, using, or disclosing the material for the same purpose can also constitute a third-degree crime. Knowingly or recklessly disclosing deceptive media created in violation of the statute can constitute a fourth-degree crime. 

A third-degree conviction generally carries three to five years in prison, while a fourth-degree conviction can result in up to 18 months. The court can also impose a fine of up to $30,000 for violating the deceptive-media statute.

The law excludes certain criticism, commentary, satire, parody, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. It also excludes content that a reasonable viewer would not believe is authentic. The question is whether the image and the conduct under investigation satisfy every element of a particular offense.

What Do Police Examine in an AI-Generated Image Investigation?

Investigators are unlikely to consider the image alone. They will examine the surrounding conduct and available digital evidence. Important questions include:

• Does the image realistically depict an identifiable person?
• Does it incorporate a real person’s photograph or likeness?
• Is the accused alleged to have created, requested, possessed, published, or sent it?
• Was it used to harass, threaten, extort, impersonate, or facilitate another offense?
• What do the devices, accounts, prompts, and messages reveal about knowledge and control?

These distinctions matter because creating, requesting, possessing, and disclosing an image are not legally interchangeable. Mere possession is not one of the acts expressly prohibited by New Jersey’s deepfake statute, although other state or federal laws can prohibit possession based on what the material depicts.

Depending on the image and the surrounding conduct, investigators could also consider filing charges such as cyber-harassment, endangering the welfare of a child, extortion, obscenity, or another offense.

Is AI-Generated Child Pornography Illegal?

Certain AI-generated sexual depictions involving minors can support serious criminal charges, but not every synthetic image is governed by the same law.

New Jersey prohibits specified conduct involving child sexual abuse or exploitation material, including digital files and computer-generated reproductions or reconstructions involving an actual child. Wholly synthetic images that do not depict or use an actual child can present different issues under current New Jersey law. 

The legal analysis depends in part on whether the material depicts or uses the likeness of an actual or identifiable child. An altered image involving a real minor presents different issues from an image generated entirely from fictional material.

Federal law reaches additional categories. Its definition of child pornography includes qualifying computer-generated images that are indistinguishable from images of actual minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. It also covers images created, adapted, or modified to make an identifiable minor appear to engage in that conduct.

A separate federal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1466A, applies to certain obscene visual representations and certain images that appear to depict minors engaged in specifically defined sexual conduct. Under that statute, the government does not always have to prove that the depicted minor exists. It must still prove knowing conduct, the required federal connection, and the content requirements of the charged provision.

What Digital Evidence Can Police Seek?

Depending on the scope of a warrant, subpoena, or other lawful process, investigators can seek:

• AI prompts and image-generation histories
• Account records, login data, email information, and IP addresses
• Cloud storage, messages, backups, and file metadata
• Search histories, deleted files, subscriptions, and payment records

Finding a file on a device does not, by itself, establish who created it, placed it there, viewed it, or knowingly controlled it. Shared devices, automatic downloads, cloud backups, and synchronized folders can complicate attribution.

A prompt, timestamp, or message can support part of the prosecution’s theory without proving the entire case. At The Law Office of John B. Brennan, I examine how digital evidence was obtained, what it establishes, what remains uncertain, and whether it reliably connects my client to the alleged activity.

What Should You Do if Police Contact You?

The instinct to explain everything can be powerful. A hurried statement can connect you to an account, device, image, or timeline. Police can then compare your words with messages, metadata, and forensic findings. An innocent mistake or incomplete answer can later be characterized as an inconsistency.

If police contact you:

• Do not delete files, wipe a device, alter an account, or ask someone else to remove evidence.
• Do not contact the person depicted or coordinate explanations with potential witnesses.
• Do not discuss the investigation online.
• Preserve any warrants, subpoenas, platform notices, and school or employment communications connected to the investigation.

You can decline a voluntary interview or request for consent to search while obtaining legal advice. If officers present a warrant, do not interfere with its execution. A warrant authorizing a search does not, by itself, require you to answer investigative questions.

Speak With John B. Brennan Before Responding to Police

An investigation involving an AI-generated sexual image can place your employment, relationships, reputation, and freedom under immediate pressure. Depending on the offense charged and the outcome of the case, the consequences can include incarceration, sex-offender registration, post-sentence supervision, and other lasting restrictions.

I am John B. Brennan. I spent 25 years as a prosecutor, have more than three decades of criminal trial experience, and am certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Criminal Trial Attorney. From my Marlton and Princeton offices, I represent people facing serious criminal investigations in South Jersey and throughout New Jersey, including federal matters in the District of New Jersey.

If police contacted you, seized a device, or accused you of creating, possessing, or sharing an AI-generated sexual image, contact The Law Office of John B. Brennan for a free, confidential consultation. Use my online contact form to discuss the investigation, the evidence, and the law that could apply before you respond.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading it or contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Results depend on the facts and legal circumstances of each matter.