Chandler man faces 10 felony counts in county’s first AI sexual child abuse image prosecution

In a first-of-its-kind prosecution, a Chandler man is charged under a newly enacted law that criminalizes artificial intelligence-generated child sexual abuse material.

William Powderly, 44, was indicted by a grand jury on ten counts of felony sexual exploitation of a minor, a Class 2 felony and dangerous crime against children, Maricopa County prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Chandler police began investigating Powderly after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Investigators said they found numerous images of child sexual abuse material in his possession, including two in which artificial intelligence had been used to superimpose a real child’s face onto sexually explicit images of another young female.

Powderly was arrested April 22 and is being held on a $150,000 bond.

AI child abuse bill became law in September 2025

The case marks the first AI-generated child sexual abuse material prosecution filed by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office since a new state law took effect last fall.

Rep. Julie Willoughby sponsored House Bill 2678, which was signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs.

The law equalized the penalties for possessing sex abuse images of real children and AI-generated, or digitally altered images, that are indistinguishable from real minors.

The law took effect Sept. 26, 2025, and was supported by Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell’s office.

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