Second School Employee Charged with Similar Crimes in Six Months
ST. PAUL, Minn. — On Thursday, Aug. 14, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported that a Brooklyn Park school employee had been arrested and charged with allegedly recording images of a 13-year-old girl in his classroom and superimposing her face onto a computer-generated female body that was nude or in lingerie. This is the second Minnesota educator in six months charged with using AI technology to generate sexual abuse images of children.
Senator Erin Maye Quade (DFL-Apple Valley), who introduced a bill in the 2025 legislative session to require that companies turn off consumer access to AI nudification technology (SF 1119) in order to protect Minnesotans from non-consensual AI-generated pornographic images, releases the following statement:
“My heart goes out to the children, families and communities affected by this horrific crime,” said Senator Maye Quade. “AI image and video generation has advanced faster than anyone anticipated, and while the government plays catchup on regulations, everyone who exists in public is vulnerable to these new and disastrous ways for people to hurt each other. For the second time this year, Minnesotans are confronted with a crime that shows why state and national regulations of generative AI are so important. These apps, which are available on Apple and Android app stores, allow users to create lifelike sexual and pornographic imagery of anyone they like — coworkers, classmates, and strangers. The people who are violated have no control over how their image is used and abused, with no recourse. Nudification technology puts every Minnesotan at risk of having non-consensual porn made of them — and as of now, we have no way of stopping it. The only way to protect Minnesotans is to require companies to stop allowing their products to be used to create AI deepfake porn and sexual abuse material in the first place. As Minnesota moves forward on state legislation, I urge Congress to pass legislation to protect all people in the US from being victimized in this way.”
For years, the Minnesota DFL has been a forerunner in regulating abuse of generative image and video AI technology. In 2023, the Minnesota DFL passed a law that creates a right of action for victims of AI generated “deepfake” pornography; and banned realistic deepfakes meant to harm candidates and influence voters prior to elections.
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Learn more about Sen. Maye Quade.
