A Louisiana man, Joel Lyons Jr., 43, of Chauvin, is facing more than 20 new felony charges for producing and distributing AI-generated child sexual abuse material. The new charges stem from an ongoing investigation by the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation (LBI), a division operating under Attorney General Liz Murrill.

Investigation Details

The case began when LBI special agents received multiple Cybertips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) indicating that Lyons was distributing child sexual abuse material across various social media applications. Agents secured an initial arrest warrant for Lyons and tracked him down in Galliano, Louisiana, on April 28, 2026.

As investigators dug deeper into Lyons’ electronics, they found additional evidence. LBI agents discovered that Lyons was not just possessing illicit content, but was actively using artificial intelligence to produce and distribute synthetic material, which is classified under state law as unlawful deepfakes.

The newly added charges filed against Lyons include 17 felony counts of unlawful deepfake production, five felony counts of unlawful deepfake distribution, and five felony counts of possessing child sexual abuse material involving victims under the age of 13. These new counts stack on top of Lyons’ existing charges from his April arrest.

Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.