Police Used AI-Generated Child Images in Online Predator Sting

Summary

Police arrested Chicago-area high school maintenance worker Christopher Thomas Mertens after investigators used an AI-generated image of a teenage-appearing boy named “Caleb” on the dating app Taimi. According to an affidavit by FBI Task Force Officer McKailey Scott, an unknown user moved the conversation to WhatsApp, expressed sexual interest after being told Caleb was 15, and exchanged explicit messages with the undercover investigator for several days. Investigators identified Mertens by checking his phone number with Thomson Reuters CLEAR and using Clearview AI to search images of his face. They then used Flock to locate and track his car as he drove to the planned meeting, where Livonia police arrested him. Mertens later asked to speak with Scott in jail and admitted the conduct; the complaint identified him as a high school employee in Illinois but did not name the school. The article places the case in a longer history of investigators creating fictional children online, including Terre des Hommes’ computer-generated “Sweetie” in 2013 and a more recent case involving age-regression technology. It also cites a 2025 arrest in which AI-generated child images were used in a child sexual abuse material investigation, and a 2024 New Mexico lawsuit alleging that Snapchat recommended an account using AI-generated child images to dangerous accounts. At the same time, law enforcement agencies have used AI-generated personas to monitor suspected criminals, protesters, and activists. The article notes that AI-generated child sexual abuse material is increasing and is being used to extort or entice children, while also being used by children to bully and harass peers. Livonia police did not respond to a request for comment.