A South Lyon husband, who allegedly had thousands of sexually explicit images of children on this computer and told his wife he used an AI tool to generate those images, has been charged with three counts of aggravated possession of child sexually abusive material and three counts of use of a computer to commit a crime.
Austin McCarty, 35, had more than 40,000 images of child porn on his computer, according to the Oakland County Prosecutor's office.
McCarty's wife alerted authorities after seeing a sexually inappropriate image of a young child on his computer on January 20, 2025. Detectives seized McCarty's computer and electronics and an investigator with the Oakland County Sheriff's Department discovered thousands of images during a year-long forensic examination of his devices.
“Even as technology changes, the laws against child sexually abusive material remain constant,” said Prosecutor Karen McDonald in a statement. “It doesn’t matter if images are created with AI or a camera; they represent the abuse of children. We will hold accountable anyone who would harm and sexually exploit children, regardless of the technology they use.”
The aggravated possession charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine. Use of a computer to commit a crime is punishable by a sentence of 10–20 years in prison.
No court date was set for McCarty.
