Officers say Rexburg man created AI child pornography of local minors
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REXBURG — An 18-year-old has been charged after his probation officers reportedly found both real and AI child pornography on his phone, depicting local children in fake sexual scenarios.
Teegan Luthy is charged with six counts of felony willfully possessing child sexually exploitative material, four counts of felony AI visual representation of a minor, and one count of misdemeanor disseminating material harmful to a minor.
Court documents say on July 19, a Madison County Sheriff’s deputy learned of a “concerning” jail call involving a probationer, Luthy, who had recently been incarcerated in the Madison County Jail.
According to court filings, Luthy was sentenced in February to supervised probation after being convicted of misdemeanor destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence.
In April, he reportedly violated his probation and was required to serve time in jail.
During his jail sentence, Luthy reportedly spoke on the phone to a family member, voicing his concerns that his probation officers took his phone to search.
Luthy reportedly told his mother he had sexual photos of a 16-year-old girl on his phone and suggested that “if probation officers looked hard enough, they would find them.”
During the phone search, probation officers reportedly found 415 images and videos of “child sexual abuse material, child erotica, unknown age nudity, pornography, and AI-generated child sexual abuse material,” according to police reports.
Officers also discovered sexual images of the 16-year-old victim, and reportedly found that Luthy had sent naked photos of himself to the victim.
Through the search, officers discovered a second minor victim, who is seen in sexual situations on Luthy’s phone.
Officers also discovered “multiple female children whose face(s) (were) used in these AI images.”
After contacting local school resource officers, officers were able to identify fifteen images where local children’s faces were used to depict them in fake sexual scenarios in the AI child pornography.
On July 30, a deputy met with Luthy, who declined to answer any questions.
According to a news release from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Luthy was arrested on Sept. 13, and booked into the Madison County Jail with a bond of $10,000.
Luthy is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 30. If convicted, he could face up to 91 years in prison.
Though Luthy has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.