Albuquerque man pleads guilty in child exploitation case involving AI
An Albuquerque man pleaded guilty in a child exploitation case after investigators said he used AI apps to sexualize images of children taken from the internet.
Richard Gallagher pleaded guilty in an Albuquerque child exploitation case that prosecutors say involved both stolen images and artificial intelligence, narrowing a 12-count felony case to six guilty pleas. He now faces up to five years in prison, and no sentencing date had been set.
The New Mexico Department of Justice said special agents arrested the 69-year-old on January 13, 2026, after a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led investigators to a specific IP address and then to Gallagher. Prosecutors charged him with 12 felony counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children, including two second-degree felony counts of manufacturing child sexual abuse material.
Investigators said Gallagher admitted to taking photos of children from the internet and using artificial intelligence apps to make the images sexually explicit. That detail gives the case broader weight in Bernalillo County, where officials are increasingly treating AI-enabled image abuse as a deliberate act of manipulation, not just possession of illicit material.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez has used the case to press lawmakers on the limits of New Mexico law. He called the arrest a wake-up call for policymakers and later backed the Artificial Intelligence Accountability Act with Rep. Linda Serrato, a proposal aimed at harmful AI-generated or manipulated media. State officials have framed the Gallagher prosecution as part of a wider effort to confront AI-assisted exploitation and deepfakes before the technology outpaces criminal statutes.
For parents, schools, and local law enforcement in Albuquerque and across Bernalillo County, the case underscores how quickly online material can be altered and weaponized. The images investigators say Gallagher used began on the internet, but prosecutors say the harm was compounded when AI tools were used to turn them into explicit content. The plea keeps the case active through sentencing and leaves a strong prison term still on the table, a sign that courts are treating this as a serious felony case rather than a minor cyber offense.
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