Law360 (June 15, 2026, 11:29 PM EDT) -- Over a dozen parents and their daughters sued a Pennsylvania private school and several unnamed artificial intelligence companies in federal court Monday, alleging the school sat by as male students used artificial intelligence to generate hundreds of sexually explicit "deepfake" images of at least 59 minor female students.

The Lancaster Country Day School is accused of having known for months that sexualized AI-generated images were spreading, "but did nothing to protect its female students," 18 parents, joined by their 13 minor female students, claim in the complaint filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

Making matters "worse," the school "actively obstructed" an investigation and "covered up what was happening," the parents say.

The parents say two male students at the school were able to create at least 350 sexually explicit deepfake images depicting at least 59 girls under the age of 18, using photos of the girls from social media and other sources like school photos, yearbooks and FaceTime chats.

"The images depicted the victims' real faces morphed onto pornographic depictions of nude female bodies," the parents assert.

The parents say the generated photos were then shared and distributed, including through messaging platforms such as Discord.

"This humiliating ordeal ruined the girls' high school experience and inflicted emotional harm they will carry with them for the rest of their lives," the parents argue. "It also caused severe emotional distress for the girls' parents, who were powerless to stop these AI-generated pornographic images of their daughters from spreading."

The lawsuit names as defendants the school, the two male students, referred to as N.S. and W.D., and their parents. The two male students had pled guilty to 59 felony counts of sexual abuse of children and criminal conspiracy in March 2025, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit also targets several AI companies, whose names are not to be identified through discovery.

According to the complaint, the school had received an anonymous tip through Pennsylvania's Safe2Say Something program in November 2023 that a student was using AI to generate nude images of his classmates. Despite receiving the tip, the school failed to report it to authorities, the parents say.

They claim that the school, instead, conducted a "wholly inadequate internal 'investigation' that consisted of little more than interviewing the accused student, who predictably denied the allegation."

No other students were interviewed, nor were any electronic devices reviewed, the parents claim, adding that the school also did not notify the parents of any potential victims and failed to contact law enforcement.

"As a consequence of the school's failure to act, the abuse was permitted to continue for several months, during which a significant number of additional sexually explicit AI-generated images of minor female students were created and distributed," the parents say.

The parents say the Manheim Township Police Department received a report in May 2024 that a parent made concerning the AI-generated child sexual abuse material at the school.

They say Lancaster Country Day School's Upper School went into a "state of acute panic and disruption," but it "still failed to expel either perpetrator."

Victim students and their parents were brought into the Susquehanna Regional Police Department in late 2024 to confirm that the deepfakes depicted the victims, according to the complaint.

"For the first time, these victims and their parents witnessed with their own eyes the grotesque deepfake images of them that had been circulating in their school for several months," the parents say. "Viewing these images caused severe emotional distress for both the students and their parents."

As for the AI companies, the parents claim in their Monday complaint that the companies "knew or should have known that their platforms were being used to generate non-consensual intimate imagery and CSAM involving minors."

The parents accuse the AI companies of failing to put reasonable safeguards in place, including adequate age-verification systems to prevent minors from using the platforms, and content-moderation systems capable of detecting and preventing the generation of sexually explicit images of minors.

The parents say they and their daughters have, as a result, suffered anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, hypervigilance, insomnia, nightmares, feelings of guilt and shame, and other harms.

They say their daughters' "suffering is profound and ongoing."

Nadeem A. Bezar of Kline & Specter PC, who represents the parents and daughters, told Law360 on Monday that they filed the suit "after a long and at times very painful road that these young students and families had to endure."

"To be dehumanized and humiliated in such a public forum is devastating," Bezar said. "Worse, Lancaster Country Day School had enough information to prevent the number of pornographic deepfakes from getting so out of control."

Alex Van Dyke of Kline & Specter, who also represents the plaintiffs, said, "When a school learns its students are being exploited online and chooses to look away, it's a betrayal of every child in its care."

Grace Grimes, also of Kline & Specter, called the school's alleged conduct "unacceptable, and the impact on these young girls is devastating."

Rory O. Connaughton of Saxton & Stump, representing Lancaster Country Day School, told Law360 it is "not the school's practice to comment on litigation involving the school community out of respect for the legal process and privacy of its students and their families."  

The parents and their daughters are represented by Nadeem A. Bezar, Alex Van Dyke and Grace Grimes of Kline & Specter PC.

Lancaster Country Day School is represented by Rory O. Connaughton of Saxton & Stump.

Counsel information for the AI companies was not immediately available Monday.

The case is Jane Doe Plaintiffs 1-13 et al. v. Lancaster Country Day School et al., case number 2:26-cv-04120, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

--Editing by Kristen Becker.

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