JONESBORO, Ark. — A Jonesboro resident faces 44 felony counts involving child sexual abuse material and a misdemeanor charge related to an alleged artificial intelligence-generated deepfake.
Joseph Perciful, 44, appeared Friday, Aug. 7, before Circuit Judge Tommy Fowler. Fowler found probable cause to detain Perciful and set bond at $500,000 cash or surety. Perciful raised his eyebrows when Fowler announced the amount.
Perciful faces 44 counts of possession or use of child sexual abuse material, each a Class B felony. He also faces one count of unlawful creation or distribution of deepfake visual material — first offense, a Class A misdemeanor.
Court paperwork states each felony count is punishable by five to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000. The misdemeanor charge is punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
A probable cause affidavit said an investigator received a cybertip July 13 involving Synchronoss Technologies, a cloud-based storage platform. The company had reportedly flagged suspected child sexual abuse material associated with a phone number.
The material allegedly depicted children believed to be between 4 and 8 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Investigators traced the internet protocol address to Ritter Communications and the phone service to Verizon, according to the affidavit. A search warrant served on Verizon allegedly identified Perciful as the subscriber.
The affidavit said the IP address was also associated with three other cybertips involving suspected child sexual abuse material.
Investigators later obtained a search warrant for information from Synchronoss Technologies. The resulting records allegedly contained additional suspected material and other information connecting the account to Perciful and his Jonesboro residence.
The records also allegedly included a photograph of four fully clothed young women believed to be between 19 and 22 years old. Investigators said they found another version of the same photograph that had been altered using artificial intelligence to depict the women nude.
Police executed a search warrant at Perciful’s residence and arrested him Thursday, Aug. 6. After being advised of his Miranda rights, Perciful allegedly told investigators he had downloaded and viewed child sexual abuse material, the affidavit said.
As a condition of release, Fowler ordered Perciful to engage in no internet activity or use internet-capable devices, including smartphones, smart TVs, tablets and computers. The public defender was appointed to represent him.
Perciful’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 30.
All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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