Sen. Jesse Kiel presses bill to criminalize AI-generated child sexual abuse material

Sen. Jesse Kiel (Senate District B) reintroduced Senate Bill 247 on March 19, 2026, proposing to criminalize possession and distribution of AI-generated child sexual abuse material and to align penalties with existing statutes for material involving identifiable children.

Laurie Morton, deputy director of the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, told the committee SB 247 is necessary because “AI-generated imagery…still fuels and normalizes the sexualization of children” and can be used to coerce victims or to blackmail them. Morton said AI tools can create images of nonexistent children or alter images of real children, and that access to such material “often fuels” demand for real content.

Deputy Attorney General Angie Kemp (Criminal Division) told the committee investigators currently rely on known-hash databases tied to actual victims, and warned the rise of generated imagery will complicate prosecutions and jury assessments. Kemp urged the committee and sponsor to add a registrable-offense provision for generated CSAM so convictions carry the same offender-registration consequences as existing CSAM offenses: “What we’re asking…is adding generated CSAM as a registrable offense as well,” she said, noting the practical evidentiary challenges when it is disputed whether material depicts an actual child.

Committee members heard the concerns and the chair said staff and the sponsor would work on a committee substitute incorporating Department of Law suggestions. The chair also noted a House companion (HB 47) and said committee leadership intends to reconcile the bills and move them jointly to Judiciary for further consideration. No committee vote was taken on SB 247 at this hearing.

Next steps: the sponsor and staff will prepare a committee substitute to address enforcement, registration, and evidentiary concerns, and the committee will coordinate SB 247 with HB 47 before sending the bills to Judiciary.