What happened

A male student at Lancaster Country Day School, a private preparatory school in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, reportedly used AI to generate nude images of nearly 50 female classmates. 

The incident first came to light in November 2023 after a student reported the deepfakes anonymously through a state-run school portal, with additional images allegedly created after the report had been filed. 

The discovery resulted in investigations by the school and the police, with the alleged cuplrit  arrested mid-2024. The incident also led to parents threatened legal action against the school for failing to report and take corrective action when it first came to know about the incident, and demanding the heads of school resign. 

The victims include both current and former students, with police identifying 46 victims - 38 current students and 8 former students. Some of the victims have reported significant emotional distress, with some unable to attend school or engage in normal activities.

Why it happened

The ability for anyone to quickly create extremely unpleasant and harmful deepfake images, together with inadequate laws and an apparent lack of understanding about the gravity of the consequences, has resulted in an explosion of incidents of misuse, many of which have involved school children. 

In this instance, the school's failure to take immediate and appropriate action when first notified may have inadvertently allowed the situation to escalate.