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High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

Texas: affidavit says a state police sergeant's hard drive held AI-modified sexual images of female colleagues and deepfake nude images of girls

The Monitor (MyRGV) reports, citing a probable cause affidavit, that a Texas Department of Public Safety staff sergeant was arrested on 3 March 2025 on a charge of possession or promotion of child pornography after his wife handed investigators a hard drive she had found. According to the affidavit, the drive held images of girls under 18 with their genitals exposed that "had been deepfake", and a Texas Rangers investigator said it also held sexually explicit videos and pictures of current female DPS employees' faces modified using an artificial intelligence application. DPS suspended him with pay and opened an administrative investigation; he was released on a $300,000 bond. He is presumed innocent, and no later outcome was found.

AI system
Unidentified image and video tool
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
19 March 2025
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or Abuse
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Privacy · Work · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources
4 claims: 4 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

AI system as recorded: An artificial intelligence application used to modify female colleagues' faces into sexually explicit images and videos, as a Texas Rangers investigator describes it (application not identified)

What Happened

The arrest. The Monitor (MyRGV, 19 March 2025) reports from a probable cause affidavit that a Texas Department of Public Safety staff sergeant was arrested on 3 March 2025 on a charge of possession or promotion of child pornography. His wife had found a hard drive in his luggage in February and later gave it to a DPS Criminal Investigation Division special agent. FOX RGV (6 March 2025) reports the charge from Hidalgo County court records, the $300,000 bond and the District Attorney's comment that additional charges may follow.

What investigators described. According to the affidavit, a folder on the drive held "multiple images of female children under the age of eighteen with their genitals exposed", and "The pictures had been deepfake." The Texas Rangers investigator who reviewed the drive with the special agent said it also held "several sexually explicit videos and pictures of current female DPS employees' faces that were modified using an artificial inteiligence (sic) application (deepfake) exposing intimate body parts." The wife also told investigators she found images of female friends and of nude girls, one of whom she recognised; the reports do not say whether those particular images were AI-made.

Response. DPS said he was suspended with pay pending an administrative investigation by its Office of Inspector General.

What is not established. The reports relay the affidavit and the investigator's account; they do not name the application, say how investigators established AI use, say who made the material or when, or say whether any depicted woman or child has been told or the material was shared. The number of people depicted is not given. The charge has not been tried, and no later report of an indictment, plea or verdict was found.

Reported harm

According to a probable cause affidavit reported by The Monitor, a Texas Rangers investigator found sexually explicit videos and pictures of female colleagues' faces modified with an AI application, and images of girls under 18 that the affidavit calls deepfakes, on a state police sergeant's hard drive; the reports do not say whether the material was shared.

Outcome

Ongoing

Arrested on 3 March 2025 and charged with possession or promotion of child pornography; released on 6 March 2025 on a $300,000 bond. The Hidalgo County District Attorney said additional charges may follow. DPS suspended him with pay and its Office of Inspector General opened an administrative investigation. No later indictment, plea or verdict was found in searches on 24 October 2026; he is presumed innocent.

What remains unknown

  • Which application was used, who made the material and when
  • How investigators established that AI was used
  • How many women and girls are depicted, and whether any of them has been told
  • Whether the material was shared
  • The outcome of the charge and of the DPS administrative investigation

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Monitor relays the probable cause affidavit: the Texas Rangers investigator who examined the hard drive said it held sexually explicit videos and pictures of current female DPS employees' faces modified using an artificial intelligence application, and the affidavit says images of girls under 18 had been deepfake. The AI output is itself the non-consensual sexual depiction of the women and girls (depicted_or_impersonated). The attribution comes from the investigators who examined the material; its technical basis and the application are not disclosed.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported A Texas Department of Public Safety staff sergeant was arrested on 3 March 2025 on a charge of possession or promotion of child pornography, after his wife found a hard drive and gave it to investigators; a $300,000 bond was set.

Causal attribution. Court records and the affidavit as relayed by two local outlets; context for how the AI-made material was found.

  • myrgv.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'A Texas Department of Public Safety staff sergeant was arrested earlier this month after his wife discovered a hard drive containing child sexual abuse material, or CSAM.'; 'was arrested March 3 on a charge of possession or promotion of child pornography.'; 'He bailed out of the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on March 6 on a $300,000 bond.'
  • foxrgv.tv(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'has been charged with possession or promotion of child pornography.'; '“A $300,000 bond has been set.'
Reported According to the affidavit, a Texas Rangers investigator said the hard drive held several sexually explicit videos and pictures of current female DPS employees' faces modified using an artificial intelligence application to expose intimate body parts.

Causal attribution. The investigating officer's account, relayed by one outlet; the technical basis for the AI attribution is not disclosed.

  • myrgv.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'investigator who reviewed the material with'; 'hard drive also contained “several sexually explicit videos and pictures of current female DPS employees’ faces that were modified using an artificial inteiligence (sic) application (deepfake) exposing intimate body parts.”'
Reported The affidavit says a folder on the drive held multiple images of girls under 18 with their genitals exposed and that the pictures had been deepfake.

Causal attribution. Affidavit wording as relayed by one outlet; the affidavit says deepfake without naming a tool or method.

  • myrgv.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'which included multiple images of female children under the age of eighteen with their genitals exposed,” the affidavit stated. “The pictures had been deepfake.”'
Reported DPS suspended the sergeant with pay pending an administrative investigation by its Office of Inspector General, and the District Attorney said additional charges may follow.

Causal attribution. Statements by DPS and the District Attorney relayed by two outlets; institutional response to the arrest.

  • myrgv.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'was immediately suspended following his arrest'; 'has also launched a separate administrative investigation,” the statement read.'
  • foxrgv.tv(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'As we investigate further, additional charges may follow,” said Hidalgo County District Attorney Terry Palacios.'; 'has been suspended from duty, pending an administrative investigation.'

Sources

2 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-10-24 through an Internet Archive capture (web.archive.org/web/2025id_/...; the origin returned HTTP 403). The Monitor (MyRGV) report of 19 March 2025 relaying a probable cause affidavit and a DPS statement. Applies to s1.

Read in English on 2026-10-24 directly. FOX RGV report of 6 March 2025 relaying Hidalgo County court records, the District Attorney and a DPS statement; it does not mention AI or deepfakes. Applies to s2.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: United States.

Event: the drive was found and examined in Texas (Hidalgo County); where the material was made is not stated. Affected persons: the depicted women are current employees of the Texas Department of Public Safety; the girls' location is not stated. Court: Hidalgo County, Texas.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-24: Published as a reported case from a probable cause affidavit relayed by The Monitor: the investigator who examined the hard drive said it held sexually explicit videos and pictures of female DPS employees' faces modified with an artificial intelligence application, and the affidavit describes deepfake nude images of girls. The AI attribution is the investigators' account with its technical basis undisclosed. The accused is untried and is not named; no depicted person is identified.

People described

Female employees of the Texas Department of Public Safety whose faces were modified with an AI application into sexually explicit videos and pictures, and girls under 18 depicted in images the affidavit calls deepfakes

People reported harmed in this case

Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

Unquantified: the affidavit as reported refers to "several" videos and pictures of "current female DPS employees" and to "multiple images of female children", without a number of people depicted (claims c2, c3). Plural nouns are not an explicit lower bound, so numeric placeholders are zero. No depicted person used the AI. The wife, the friends and the girl she recognised are not counted because the reports do not say their images were AI-made.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#ai-modified-image#non-consensual-sexual-imagery#workplace#criminal-charges#texas#united-states

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Texas: affidavit says a state police sergeant's hard drive held AI-modified sexual images of female colleagues and deepfake nude images of girls. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-texas-affidavit-says-state-police-sergeants-hard-drive-held-ai-modified-sexual-images-of-female-colleagues

BibTeX

@misc{2025_texas_affidavit_says_state_police_sergeants_hard_drive_held_ai_modified_sexual_images_of_female_colleagues,
  title = {Texas: affidavit says a state police sergeant's hard drive held AI-modified sexual images of female colleagues and deepfake nude images of girls},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-texas-affidavit-says-state-police-sergeants-hard-drive-held-ai-modified-sexual-images-of-female-colleagues}
}

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