CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Experts are warning parents to think twice before posting public photos online after a case where a South Florida man is accused of using artificial intelligence to generate photos of children being sexually abused.
Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives said Ray Lequerique Jr. used xAI’s Grok to create 29 sexual abuse images of girls who appeared to be between ages 5 and 9.
They arrested the 25-year-old Parkland man on July 10.
Investigators said the images appeared to have been derived from photos of real children that could have been obtained on social media, as well as were also derived from pictures of children who Lequerique had close contact with.
“Once it’s online, you lose complete control,” tech expert Craig Agranoff told Local 10 News. “A lot of times they’re grabbing these images from your social accounts of you posting pictures of your children.”
Agranoff said the best bet for parents and kids using social media is to keep their photos and accounts private.
“Lock down your accounts,” he said. “Only allow close friends.”
Former federal prosecutor Jacob Koffsky, with the Podhurst Orseck law firm in Coral Gables, said the law is trying to keep up with the pace of technology.
“The law is never going to be keeping exact pace with with the technology that emerges or with the criminal activity that occurs because of those technological changes but so far as I can tell, I don’t think the law has been delinquent,” Koffsky said. “I actually think people have been very diligent and have been working very hard to try to keep pace.”
In Lequerique’s case, investigators said xAI alerted law enforcement to his illicit activity. Koffsky said tech company cooperation is crucial to these cases.
“The more cooperative these companies are with those subpoenas and with law enforcement efforts, generally the better and the quicker these cases and investigations can progress,” he said.
Agranoff said “guardrails are not perfect” and policymakers will “have to constantly shape and learn from what’s right and what’s wrong” with AI.
“We’ll figure that out eventually, but for now, it is a scary time,” he said. “I just hope that people realize that today’s prevention helps prevent harm tomorrow.”
Lequerique’s attorney filed a motion to have his competency evaluated and the case transferred to Broward mental health court, citing a neurodevelopmental condition.
He was allowed to go home after posting a $110,000 bond. He must wear a GPS monitor and have no contact with minors or use of the internet.
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