Three eastern Iowa students charged in nude AI-generated photos case

CASCADE, Iowa — Three Cascade High School students accused of creating fake nude images of other students with artificial intelligence have been charged, according to the Western Dubuque Community School District.

Iowa Public Radio reported back in May, that a group of students allegedly attached the victims' headshots on other images of nude bodies. School officials say they first were made aware of the images on March 25.

The school district says "any student charged as a creator or distributor of materials like those in question will not be permitted to attend school in person at Cascade Junior/Senior High School."

The district would not give many more details in the case due to the ongoing investigation and their "legal obligation to maintain student confidentiality."

On Tuesday, the Dubuque County Attorney's Office said in a release that the juveniles were accused of generating "numerous" photos of high school-aged girls using AI programming.

Charges against a fourth student are expected too. The attorney's office says the photos were shared among students and they don't believe the photos got out of those circles. There are still efforts to scrub any subsequent photos from the internet.

The Dubuque County Attorney's Office, Dubuque County Sheriff's Office, and Dubuque Police Department will make presentation to Dubuque County students and parents about the situation.

The release says they want to "make those parents aware of the dangers faced by students from bad actors on the internet and further making parents aware of what to look for on their children's phones."