Two boys from Miami, Florida, were arrested in December for allegedly creating and sharing AI-generated images of their co-ed classmates without their consent, according to a police report obtained by WIRED through a public records request. Nude photos.
The boys, ages 13 and 14, created images of students “between the ages of 12 and 13,” the arrest report said.
The Florida case appears to be the first to result in arrests and criminal charges for allegedly sharing AI-generated nude images. The boys were charged with a third-degree felony, the same level as auto theft or false imprisonment, under a state law passed in 2022 that provides for sharing “any modified sexual description” of another person without their consent. That is a felony.
The parent of one of the boys arrested did not respond to a timely request for comment. The other boy’s parents said they had “no comment.” The detective assigned to the case and the state attorney handling the case did not respond promptly for comment.
As AI image-making tools gain popularity, there have been a number of high-profile incidents involving minors allegedly creating AI-generated nude photos of their classmates and sharing them without consent. No arrests were disclosed in publicly reported cases including Issaquah High School in Washington, Westfield High School in New Jersey and Beverly Vista High School in California, although police reports were filed. At Issaquah High School, police chose not to press charges.
The first media reports of the Florida case emerged in December, saying the two boys were suspended for 10 days from Pinecrest Cove Academy in Miami after school administrators learned of allegations that they created and shared false nude photos without consent. When parents of the victims learned of the incident, some began to publicly urge the school to expel the boys.
Nadia Khan-Roberts, the mother of one of the victims, told NBC Miami in December that the incident was traumatic for all the families whose children were affected. “Our daughters don’t feel comfortable walking in the same hallways as these boys,” she said. “It made me feel violated, I felt taken advantage of [of] I feel taken advantage of,” one victim, who requested anonymity, told the station.
Arrest records obtained by WIRED this week show that the incident was reported to police on December 6, 2023, and the two boys were arrested on December 22. Records accuse the pair of using an “artificial intelligence application” to create false explicit images. The name of the app was not specified, and reports said the boys shared photos with each other.
“The incident was reported to school administrators,” the report said, without specifying who made the report or how that person discovered the images. After school administrators “obtained copies of the altered images,” administrators interviewed the victims depicted in them, who said they did not consent to their creation, the report said.