Benjamin T. Staiger

A Harmony man accused of distributing artificially-generated child sexual abuse material and stalking a former partner by posting intimate photos of them waived his preliminary hearing Monday, Dec. 15.

Benjamin T. Staiger, 20, was charged Oct. 23 with 22 felony counts of disseminating photos of child sex acts, 20 felony counts of child pornography, one felony count of criminal use of a communication facility, 18 misdemeanor counts of unlawful dissemination of an intimate image, three misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy and one count of misdemeanor stalking.

Staiger’s formal arraignment is scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb. 3 in Butler County Common Pleas Courtroom 5 before Judge Maura Palumbi.

Staiger previously posted $100,000 bail and was on electronic monitoring.

The attorney general’s office said it identified several victims depicted in photos posted by Staiger to X. The photos had surfaced in recent months and showed children engaged in intimate activities, it said.

The photos were taken of children then artificially-altered into “deepfakes,” images or recordings convincingly altered to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that never happened.

Senior deputy attorney general Angela Raver is prosecuting the case.