A Florida woman has been arrested after police determined she fabricated a sexual assault claim using an AI-generated image created with ChatGPT.
Police in St. Petersburg, Florida, have arrested a woman accused of fabricating a sexual assault story and using an AI-generated image to support her claim.
Authorities said 32-year-old Brooke Schinault contacted police on October 7 to report that a man had broken into her apartment, knocked her down, and sexually assaulted her. The mother of two told investigators she did not know her attacker but had managed to photograph him while he was sitting on her couch.
“Multiple officers and forensic technicians responded to the scene,” police said in their report. However, a subsequent forensic review revealed the image Schinault submitted was not real. Investigators determined the picture “was AI generated via ChatGPT” and found it in a deleted folder dated several days before the alleged assault.
Schinault was arrested and charged with falsely reporting a crime. She spent one night in jail before being released on a $1,000 bond, according to Pinellas County court records. Police have not disclosed a possible motive for the hoax.
Court documents indicate no evidence of a break-in or assault was found at the scene.
On her Instagram page, Schinault had recently written about surviving domestic abuse, noting that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. “He sexually assaulted me but all I can say is I survived I made it out,” she posted.
Authorities said the investigation remains open as they review Schinault’s prior claims.