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Sunday, October 18, 2026

The File

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Bucks County · Sunday, October 18, 2026

Bucks County charges a prosecutor over abuse images

Thursday, Oct. 15

The File desk · Oct 18, 2026, 11:30 AM UTC

Status

Confirmed as the Bucks County District Attorney's account of charges filed Thursday. The charges are allegations. Bail was set.
  • Confirmed
    Brian Richard Fitzgerald, 51, a deputy attorney general in New Jersey, was charged in Bucks County with felonies tied to child sexual abuse images.
  • Confirmed
    The office says some images were generated by artificial intelligence and that he also acquired and shared images of real children.
  • Confirmed
    Bail was set at $2 million, 10 percent. A preliminary hearing date was not printed.
Prosecutors in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, charged a New Jersey deputy attorney general on Thursday with felonies tied to images of child sexual abuse, including images they say a computer generated.1
The man is Brian Richard Fitzgerald, 51. The office says a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children concerned a Discord post on July 10. A search warrant was served Oct. 15 on Edgewood Road in Lower Makefield Township.2
The charges are possession of child sexual abuse material, dissemination of photos or film of that material, and criminal use of a communication facility. All are felonies. He was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Corryn L. Kronnagel. Bail is $2 million, 10 percent. He was sent to the Bucks County Correctional Facility.
District Attorney Joe Khan said, “No one is above the law, least of all someone entrusted with upholding it.”

Notes

  1. 1.Bucks County District Attorney, news release, charges announced around the Oct. 15, 2026 search. Brian Richard Fitzgerald, 51, deputy attorney general in the New Jersey Attorney General's Office. https://www.buckscounty.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/1647
  2. 2.Same release. The investigation started from a CyberTipline report through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a July 10, 2026 Discord post. Search warrant Oct. 15, 2026, Edgewood Road, Lower Makefield Township. The office says the images include AI-generated child sexual abuse material and material depicting real children. Charges are allegations; defendants are presumed innocent.

What is still unknown or disputed

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Bucks County charges in an AI-image case

    Bucks County District Attorney · October 15, 2026

    Brian Richard Fitzgerald, 51, faces felony charges of possession of child sexual abuse material, dissemination, and criminal use of a communication facility. Bail $2 million, 10 percent. District Attorney Joe Khan: “No one is above the law, least of all someone entrusted with upholding it.”

    https://www.buckscounty.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/1647