A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent said an undercover investigation on Kik led to the arrest of a Roseville woman for allegedly posting AI-generated nude images of a girl identified as 14.
Deborah Louise Coatney, 43, later said, according to federal agents, “I know it’s wrong.”
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Coatney was charged with Attempted Distribution of Child Pornography and Attempted Receipt and Possession of Child Pornography in a federal complaint filed July 17.
Undercover account and a user named ‘Debdeb’
According to HSI Detroit, earlier this month, an undercover agent was investigating child exploitation and chatting on the mobile app Kik.
The HSI agent, again acting undercover, was portraying himself “as the father of an eight-year-old girl” and said he joined groups that “appeared to discuss the sexual abuse of children.”
On July 6, according to the complaint, the undercover agent was added to a Kik group related to open marriages and sharing private images. The feds said the group’s profile picture showed “a topless adult female” and a topless female of an unknown age.
That same day, the undercover agent said the user ‘Debdeb’ sent multiple images to the group, including images of adult women and what “appeared to be teenage females.”
Soon after, the undercover agent saw ‘Debdeb’ post images that appeared to depict a minor victim described as “an actual minor.” In one image, the feds said the child appeared nude, and their face was visible in enough detail to compare later to other images.
The feds said ‘Debdeb’ later posted an image of the child in a cheerleading uniform with identifying information leading the agent to the metro Detroit area.
On July 7, 2026, the undercover agent said he again saw ‘Debdeb’ post sexually explicit images and videos, including another nude image of the child.
That same day, the undercover agent contacted ‘Debdeb’ directly. The criminal complaint quotes part of the exchange:
UCA: “How old”
Debdeb[xxx]: “14”
UCA: “How’d you get AI to do that”
Tracking ‘Debdeb’ to Roseville
After that, HSI received subscriber information from Kik: an email address, a username, and IP address information.
The IP address was allegedly observed “thousands of times” between June 6 and July 8 and was linked to Wide Open West. The feds said the Wide Open West account was listed at an address on Collingwood in Roseville.
On July 13 and 14, 2026, the same undercover agent said he reached out again using a different Kik account and continued chatting with ‘Debdeb.’ In that conversation, ‘Debdeb’ allegedly described herself as “43f Mich,” and sent “a selfie-style image of an adult female’s face.”
The undercover agent said he asked whether the child knew about the images. ‘Debdeb’ allegedly replied: “No she doesn’t.”
“They are actually AI, Don’t say anything,” Coatney also allegedly said.
‘Debdeb’ then allegedly described how the other user found her Facebook page and became “obsessed with [child victim].” ‘Debdeb’ allegedly said the other user sent her the girl’s picture and that “At first” she thought “wtf,” but later “I liked them.”
When asked whether she had taken “real stuff” of the child, the feds said ‘Debdeb’ responded: “Just AI.”
Later, the undercover agent said he joined the Kik group again and observed another user, identified in the complaint as “User A,” posting nude images of the same child.
‘Debdeb,’ in response to a comment from “User A,” wrote explicit statements in the group chat that implied that the child was being sexually exploited and assaulted.
Search warrant and interview: ‘photos of young children’
The feds said they then reviewed a social media account associated with “Debbie Coatney,” which listed Roseville as one of her locations. The undercover agent said he found images and information tying Coatney to some of the explicit images.
Coatney’s Michigan driver’s license photo was also consistent with the selfie image ‘Debdeb’ sent to the undercover agent, the complaint said.
On July 16, 2026, agents said they searched Coatney’s Roseville home and Coatney agreed to an interview. Coatney allegedly identified her cellphone, provided the lock pattern, gave an email address that matched the Kik info, admitted to using Kik, and said her username was “deb deb something.”
When the feds showed Coatney the profile for ‘Debdeb,’ she allegedly said it was her account, and later provided the password and allowed agents to search it.
According to the complaint, Coatney said the group “sends photos and stuff, naughty ones.” Coatney then allegedly elaborated and said: “photos of young children.”
‘Photos of her, AI-ed’ and ‘Made them into naked’
The feds said Coatney then showed a photo of a child and admitted there were “photos of her, AI-ed.” She also identified the other Kik user by name and the city where she believed he lived.
Coatney allegedly said, according to the complaint, “he does all the AI,” and that she had “never done it.” She also allegedly added, “I know it’s wrong.”
When the feds asked Coatney to explain what the AI did, Coatney allegedly said it “made them into naked.”
The feds said Coatney told agents she first told the other user to stop, and later said “it was wrong,” that it was “horrible,” and “I can’t do this anymore.” Coatney said she’d been sending images for “a couple of weeks” and said the child was unaware the images existed, the feds said.
She again described the conduct as “gross” and “wrong,” the complaint said. When the HSI agent asked what she would call someone who distributes naked images of someone under 18, she allegedly replied: “a pedophile.” When he asked where she thought that put her, the complaint said Coatney answered: “in that category.”
In a second interview, Coatney allegedly admitted to distributing the explicit images, adding: “I know what I did was absolutely wrong.” The feds said Coatney admitted to posting images in two different groups and estimated there were “100 people in each group,” and said she was trying to impress the person who told her to post them.
When asked what should happen to people who commit sexual offenses against children, Coatney allegedly replied: “jail.”
During a search of electronics in Coatney’s home, the feds said they found a cellphone labeled “Deborah’s S21” with Kik installed and logged in as ‘Debdeb,’ the complaint said.
Court records show Coatney was arrested and appeared in federal court in Detroit on July 17. She later received a $10,000 personal bond.