A 32-year-old Florida woman has pleaded no contest after admitting she used an artificial intelligence-generated photograph to file a fabricated sexual assault report with police.
The False Report and AI Discovery
Brooke Schinault called police to her home in St. Petersburg in October, claiming a man had broken in and sexually assaulted her. According to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail, multiple officers responded but found no evidence of any crime having taken place.
Schinault then showed officers a picture of the man she alleged was responsible. However, in subsequent charging documents, police stated the image was later identified as being AI-generated using ChatGPT. Investigators found the picture in a deleted folder on her device and determined it had been created days before she reported the alleged burglary and battery.
The obtained image, published by crime outlet The Smoking Gun, depicts a man in a dirty jacket with a hoodie, seated on a couch inside a home.
Connection to Viral TikTok Trend
During questioning, Schinault initially insisted she was telling the truth, claiming she had only used AI to 'enhance' an original picture she could not produce. After being taken into custody, she confessed to creating the image, telling authorities she was struggling with depression and 'wanted attention'.
A detective on the case wrote in a supplemental report that they recognised the image as part of a viral TikTok challenge. The trend, known as the 'AI homeless man challenge', involves individuals using AI to generate pictures of vagrants inside their homes to prank family members.
'I went through several TikTok reels of this challenge and found [photos of] the same man the female claimed she took,' the officer stated.
Legal Outcome and Wider Warnings
On Monday, Schinault pleaded no contest to the charge of falsely reporting a crime. She was placed on probation and ordered to pay a fine.
This incident is not isolated. Police departments across the United States have reported a spike in false emergency calls linked to the same AI prank. Last month, the Yonkers Police Department in New York issued a public service announcement titled 'The 'AI Homeless Man' Prank isn't funny - it's dangerous'.
They warned that such hoaxes waste critical resources and pose real safety risks, as officers respond at high speed to what appears to be a genuine intruder call. 'It's a potentially dangerous situation that could have serious consequences,' the department stated, urging parents to discuss the misuse of AI with their children.
