A York County man is facing charges after investigators said they found more than two dozen files of AI-generated child pornography on his phone. 

Twenty-two-year-old Luke A. Teipel of Dallastown was charged with over 30 felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General announced on Monday. Prosecutors say it's the first case of its kind after state legislators passed a new law last year.

The attorney general's office said the investigation began when agents traced suspected child sexual abuse material back to a device owned by Teipel. 

While searching his home, agents said they found a cell phone that had 29 files of artificially generated child sexual abuse material. Investigators said they also found real images on his phone and laptop. 

Prosecutors said a bill that passed last year updated prior laws, prohibiting the use of AI to create images that appear to "authentically depict" children being abused in situations that never happened. 

"This proactive investigation uncovered a defendant weaponizing modern technology to victimize and harm children," Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a news release. 

"Due to the bipartisan leadership of Senators Tracy Pennycuik and Lisa Boscola, we now have a law on the books that enables the filing of serious felony charges in AI cases that we previously could not prosecute. These charges are just a first step in using this new law to protect our communities and our children."

In a statement from the attorney general's office, Pennycuik applauded Sunday for combating "deepfake" images of minors and prosecuting people "who commit these heinous crimes."