By admin 
FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — The fallout continues after the revelation from the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office that an assault that allegedly happened at Tanglewood Park did not take place there.
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It has called into question other details of the investigation, including a widely circulated AI sketch disseminated by the sheriff’s office.
FOX8 is no longer showing that image because the sheriff’s office told reporters not to use it.
Image Takes Toll
The widely circulated image took a toll on a Whitsett man and his reputation. Brandon Brown says he first saw the image on July 2 on Facebook
He says his family teased him, as the suspect image depicted a bald, white man with a beard and earrings.
That image had investigators knocking at his door on July 6, which was six days after the alleged attack.
“First thing anyone can point out is that I’m bald. I think the second thing was the beard, and I have an earring on one side,” Brown said.
When Brown was shown the AI-generated suspect sketch by his wife of the person the FCSO was looking for in an alleged attack, he thought he had similar features.
“The officers did tell me … that’s not on the sketch is a cross tattoo on one of the arms, and I have a cross tattoo on both of my arms,” Brown said.
Brown says he was caught off-guard.
They inspected him and questioned him, and he was seriously concerned as to what would happen next.
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“These are serious allegations … You don’t have to be guilty of something for someone to form an opinion of you from tips and allegations,” Brown said.
Deputies cleared him before they left his home that day. After the sheriff’s office told reporters to no longer use the AI-generated image on Wednesday, he felt better but couldn’t shake some lingering questions.
“The fear of what could happen to me. What is happening to others? Because I am assuming I am not the only one,” Brown said.
‘Innocent People Were Being Looked At’
According to Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill, Brown wasn’t the only person under a cloud of suspicion.
“Doors were knocked on. People were interviewed. I can also tell you that a composite was put out there about what everyone thought the alleged attacker was going to look like, which then, of course, members of the public were calling in, and innocent people were being looked at,” O’Neill said.
Brown hopes the experience, which not only affected him but also his entire family, could serve as a lesson in using AI-generated images in criminal investigations.
“How is it going to affect us … now and in the future?” Brown said.
Brown says he felt like the sheriff’s office released the AI sketch prematurely and is urging them to be more cautious.
Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough also confirmed during Wednesday’s press conference that the sketch was created by the victim, and she submitted the image to the FCSO.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office says that when there is an incident with no other witnesses besides the victim, any details circulated are victim-provided.
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