Montana Man Charged for Using AI in Child Abuse Case

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On August 21, 2025, prosecutors in the Montana Attorney General’s Office charged a Carter County man with three felony counts of sexual abuse of children (CSAM) for possession of explicit images and videos that depict a child under the age of 12. In at least one of the counts, Attorney General Austin Knudsen said artificial intelligence was used to digitally alter the image of a Montana child. 

“Shy Herbert McCutchan, 31, was arrested Thursday in Alzada by the Carter County Sheriff’s Office and the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI),” Knudsen said. “The investigation was launched after the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children (NCMEC) received multiple cyber tips that CSAM was uploaded to a wireless cloud backup from McCutchan’s devices. During the investigation, authorities found that McCutchan captured images of a child from the parents’ public social media account and used AI to create manipulated content with the photos, producing AI CSAM.” 

Knudsen said using AI to digitally alter images of children located on social media is becoming more common among child sex predators. To address the issue and hold perpetrators accountable, House Bill 82 was passed and signed into law during the 2025 Legislative Session, and allows for the prosecution of sex predators utilizing artificial intelligence to digitally alter images.  

Get our free mobile app

“McCutchan is being held on a $250,000 bond as ordered by the state District Court Judge Rennie Wittman,” Knudsen said. “An arraignment has been set for September 9. He could face up to 100 years in prison for each of the three charges. DCI’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and the Carter County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.” 

READ MORE: Missoula News - Crime Reports

Assistant Attorneys General Daniel Guzynski and Stephanie Robles are prosecuting the case.