Police Investigate Middle School Boys Who Allegedly Used AI to Make Nudes of Classmates
Police are investigating two middle school boys who are accused of using AI technology to create nude photos of multiple classmates.
Prosecutors are currently reviewing a case involving two boys at Homer Middle School in Homer, Alaska for allegedly creating and sharing AI-generated nude images of their classmates.
According to a report by Alaska Public, Lieutenant Ryan Browning of the Homer Police Department says that the investigation began when one girl reported that her classmates created nude photographs of her.
However, the Homer Police Department soon realized that the case involved many more victims.
“We started our investigation, started getting some of the digital devices, and quickly realized that it was spiraling (to) more than just one young lady,” Browning tells Alaska Public.
“I think we’re up to 10 or 11 victims right now that this happened to. That the kids were circulating these photos. So not just the two boys, but they would send it to other classmates, and the other classmates were circulating it as well.”
Officials in the state Division of Juvenile Justice are now looking into the case with the District Attorney’s office “for the appropriate legal response”.
Lieutenant Browning tells the news outlet that charges associated with these incidents generally involve multiple felonies related to the production of child sex abuse material, including unlawful exploitation of a minor, and possessing and distributing the material.
Earlier this year, two teen boys from Miami, Florida were arrested for allegedly making deepfake nude images of their classmates — in what is believed to be the first-ever U.S. instance of criminal charges in relation to AI-generated nudes.
It came following several incidents of high-school students using widely-available AI apps to make deepfake nude photographs of their female classmates — including in schools in New Jersey, Seattle, and Los Angeles.
In March, the FBI issued a public service announcement about child sexual abuse material, noting all such images and videos, including those created through AI, are illegal.
Federal officials at the Department of Homeland Security also warned about a rise in sex abuse content through AI, which allows offenders to create images and videos on an exponentially larger scale.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
