When Rep. Craig Haggard, R-Mooresville, heard Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s staff was accused of viewing and laughing at a sexually explicit deepfake video of his wife — allegations Beckwith denies —, Haggard was “ticked off.”
So when Rep. Maureen Bauer, a colleague across the aisle with a similar story, reached out last year, the unlikely pairing got to work on two bills to tackle what they’ve described as a growing problem.
One, House Bill 1182, would make it a Class B misdemeanor to create or possess a “digital sexual image” — defined as an AI-generated or digitally altered image or video that depicts a person having sex or exposes their naked body — without the individual’s consent. A person who distributes such an image could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. In both cases, the penalty would increase up to a Level 6 felony for repeat offenders.
House Bill 1183 has nearly identical language, with a stricter penalty: creating or possessing the images would start out as a Class A misdemeanor and distributing the images would start out as a Level 6 felony, with repeat offenders committing Level 6 and Level 5 felonies, respectively.
Beckwith has denied that any of his employees saw the alleged video of Haggard’s wife but said it would be a fireable offense if it happened in the future.
“The Lieutenant Governor is strongly in favor of House Bill 1183 and 1182,” a spokesperson told IndyStar. “We believe an amendment would be appropriate to add stricter penalties for falsely accusing one of the creating, possessing, or distributing a digital sexual image.”
A grand jury in Marion County met earlier this year for an “investigation into the distribution of an intimate image(s) and ghost employment in the office of the Indiana Lieutenant Governor.” No criminal charges have been filed.
Two lawmakers reach across the aisle
The same month 24sightNews broke the story of the alleged deepfake video in Beckwith’s office, Bauer, a Democrat from South Bend, became the victim of a sextortion attempt.
In August 2025, Bauer received an email attempting to extort her with a digitally altered photo of her taken from a friend’s Instagram. She reached out to law enforcement, where she learned there were gaps in Indiana law that essentially made the act an “unpunishable crime.”
Bauer then connected with Haggard, who had begun to research the problem himself after seeing how it impacted his wife.
Rapid advancements in AI and increased public access have contributed to a sharp uptick in the use of AI for sexual abuse. Two percent of U.S. women surveyed in early 2025 reported being the target of an AI deepfake, according to the National Organization for Women. Reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse images to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children rose from 4,700 in 2023 to 440,000 in the first half of 2025.
Though it’s already illegal in Indiana to knowingly distribute a sexually explicit image without a person’s consent, including computer generated ones, the proposed pair of bills would make the creation of the image a crime.
Neither bill has been scheduled for a committee hearing yet, but lawmakers have weeks to do so before the deadline.
Contact breaking politics reporter Marissa Meador at mmeador@gannett.com or find her on X at @marissa_meador.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana bill targets nonconsensual AI porn amid recent scandals
Reporting by Marissa Meador, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
