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Ky. AG, lawmakers highlight new tools in the fight against AI-generated child porn

Kentucky Department of Criminal Investigations Detective Shelby Guffey and K9 Officer Charity at a news conference in Covington with DCI Counter Exploitation Deputy Commissioner Jeremy Murrell (middle) and Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman (left).
Nick Swartsell
/
WVXU
Kentucky Department of Criminal Investigations Detective Shelby Guffey and K-9 Officer "Charity" at a news conference in Covington with DCI Counter Exploitation Deputy Commissioner Jeremy Murrell (middle) and Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman (left).

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman was in Covington Monday with state legislators and law enforcement officials to talk about progress made in preventing the use of AI in child pornography.

Coleman highlighted House Bill 207, legislation passed earlier this year by the Kentucky General Assembly outlawing AI-generated child porn and other items related to child sexual abuse.

"These new tools will make us more effective in this fight," he said. "The new law is working. This is not just academic."

Coleman cited a prosecution in Metcalfe County under the new law, which also outlaws child sex dolls.

State Representative Stephanie Dietz (R-Edgewood) introduced the bill in the Kentucky House, and State Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-District 23) sponsored it in the Senate.

RELATED: A dozen new laws to know in Kentucky

"There's nothing more important than protecting our kids," Dietz said. "This is a tool in the toolbox for our law enforcement, those on the frontlines and our prosecutors."

State law enforcement officials also demonstrated K-9 officer "Charity," who is trained to sniff out hidden electronic storage devices when serving warrants on suspected child predators.

Kentucky Department of Criminal Investigations Detective Shelby Guffey explained how the dogs are trained.

"There's a chemical compound sprayed on tech at manufacturing called TPPO," she said. "It's a cooling compound. That's the chemical compound she indicates on. A lot like any detection work, they have that specific scent that they're trained on."

Nick has reported from a nuclear waste facility in the deserts of New Mexico, the White House press pool, a canoe on the Mill Creek, and even his desk one time.