LANCASTER, Pa. — Two juveniles have been charged in connection to the creation and possession of AI-generated pornographic images of Lancaster Country Day School students, involving 60 identified victims, authorities announced Wednesday.
The juveniles used an artificial intelligence application to digitally alter images taken from social media profiles of 59 minors and one adult, making the victims appear nude, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office. The altered images and videos were exchanged between the two defendants in a private chat room on the social media platform Discord.
Juvenile #1 faces numerous charges, including criminal conspiracy, 59 counts of sexual abuse of children, dissemination of obscene materials, and possession of unrelated child pornography. Juvenile #2 faces similar charges, excluding the unrelated material. Both suspects’ identities remain protected under Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Act.
Investigators uncovered 347 images and videos in Discord records, alongside messages where the defendants discussed altering the images for their personal gratification. The activity was discovered in November 2023 when one of the juveniles accidentally shared an altered image in another chat room, prompting its removal by another student who reported the incident.
District Attorney Heather Adams expressed deep concern over the case, stating, “The number of victims involved in this case is troubling, and the trauma that they have endured in learning that their privacy has been violated in this manner is unimaginable.”
