A 51-year-old Yardley man remains held in the Bucks County Correctional Facility, unable to post 10 percent of a $2 million bail, while awaiting a preliminary hearing on three child sexual abuse materials charges.
Brian Fitzgerald was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Corryn L. Kronnagel in connection with an alleged July 10 incident, according to the District Attorney’s Office, which charged him with child sexual abuse material (CSAM), disseminate photo/film of child sex acts/sexual abuse materials and criminal use of a communication facility, according to court records.
The probable cause affidavit released last week details the investigation leading up to Fitzgerald’s arrest.
Bucks County Detectives began their investigation on or about Aug. 14,2026, after the District Attorney’s Office received a notification that a Cyber Tip was received by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) on July 11, 2026. It was reported that a Discord user shared CSAM using his/her social media platform on July 10, 2026. The CSAM shared by the reported Discord user consisted of one image file showing an unclothed minor female sitting on a bed. Discord, Inc. provided account records associated with the username “thegentlemanpervert_21602 07833” to the investigators, as written in the probable cause.
Discord provided investigators with four IP addresses linked to the account— one used for a CSAM file upload, one for an account login, and two other IP addresses. The IPs associated with the upload and login were both assigned to Verizon, investigators said, and then ran the account’s linked phone number through a law enforcement database, identifying Verizon as the phone carrier,
Digital records traced the account’s phone number and multiple IP addresses—some registered under different subscriber names—directly to Fitzgerald’s residence. One of the two other IP addresses accessed the Discord account a minimum of 23 times between May 30, 2026 and July 10, 2026. That digital footprint, detectives said, gave them the evidence needed to execute search warrants at his Yardley home, where they seized electronic devices.
Using a public internet registry, investigators noted, they traced two additional IP addresses to Comcast. Subscriber records revealed the addresses belonged to two local businesses near Fitzgerald’s residence.
On August 28, detectives subpoenaed Google for subscriber and billing records tied to Gmail and Google Pay accounts linked to the case. Detectives said those records revealed connected recovery accounts and billing profiles that further expanded the paper trail.
Law enforcement database queries through PennDOT confirmed Fitzgerald’s identity, birthdate, and ownership of a 2025 Kia K4 GT-Line registered to his Yardley address. During surveillance of the property, investigators observed Fitzgerald who is 5’ 10” a white male with hazel eyes and natural brown hair at the residence, written in the probable cause by investigators.
DISCORD ACCOUNT – SEARCH WARRANT
On August 24, 2026, according to the investigators, they obtained and served a state-issued search warrant for the Discord accounts associated with Fitzgerald’s email address(es), phone number, username, User ID and the associated NCMEC CyberTipline Report. The warrant contained a date range of July 1, 2026 through Aug. 16,2026.
Discord provided a responsive production to the State search warrant on Sept. 21, 2026. The detectives reviewed this production, which included account registration date and deletion date, last used IP address, billing information, and the device, said in the probable cause.
The Discord account records included content from direct messages, also known as “DMs”. The messages included a thread allegedly between Fitzgerald and another Discord user. According to the detectives, on July 10, 2026, Fitzgerald allegedly sent a direct message with 9 attachments. One of these attachments was consistent with the image file contained within the CyberTip. The parties discuss the images, during which Fitzgerald sent a message indicating he only has Al images. When asked by the other user, “Do you make them,” Fitzgerald responded, “I made all of them except the one on the white bed”
The affidavit said that there were eight other attachments allegedly sent by Fitzgerald and were reviewed by the investigators. Each depicted undressed females approximately in ages from mid- to late-teens engaged in sexual acts, either alone or with a male partner. These eight images appeared to have been created using a computer program or artificial intelligence (AI).
On or about July 1, 2026, in a separate message thread with a different Discord user, Fitzgerald sent an image file, after which sent the message, “Not my best photo”
Credit: Bucks County, Detectives
The detectives wrote in the probable cause that they reviewed this image file, finding it consistent with images obtained of Fitzgerald during this investigation.
On October 15, 2026, the investigators executed a search warrant at Fitzgerald’s residence. During the search, Fitzgerald admitted to making CSAM using a website call Perchance.org. Fitzgerald further admitted to obtaining CSAM using another application and sharing the CSAM file(s) over Discord. Fitzgerald claimed he wiped/deleted all CSAM and conversation threads following Discord deactivating his account, according to the criminal complaint.
Detectives said that Fitzgerald’s Apple iPhone 18 Pro was previewed and in the Notes application, scripts were located which would be consistent with prompts/scripts/commands used to create child sexual abuse material using an artificial intelligence program.
Fitzgerald is represented by Paul Gregory Lang, Esq and is due back in court on December 15 for a preliminary hearing, online court records show.