Lancaster Country Day seeks dismissal in AI nudes lawsuit

Lancaster Country Day School has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit over AI-generated nude images of female classmates, arguing that it did not ignore law enforcement and had no legal duty to report the matter to local police. The Lancaster Country Day AI nudes case has become an early test of how schools, courts and state laws handle AI-generated sexual images involving minors.

The Pennsylvania private K-12 school, which has fewer than 600 students, said in a motion to dismiss that the first tip came from the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General. Because that office is a law enforcement agency, the school argues it is inaccurate for the plaintiffs to say Lancaster Country Day failed to report the matter to law enforcement.

The school also said the tip did not name any student victims and identified only one alleged actor. Lancaster Country Day said it investigated within the limits of its educator training, interviewed the boy identified in the tip and his mother, and closed the inquiry after the boy denied making the images and his mother provided no additional information. The school said it did not see the images and maintains that the activity occurred off campus.

What is Lancaster Country Day arguing about the AI nudes?

Lancaster Country Day’s defense centers on notice and legal duty. The school says it did not know specific girls were being targeted, did not possess the images and was not required under Pennsylvania law to report AI-generated images as child abuse because the relevant statute does not yet expressly cover that conduct.

Rory Connaughton of Saxton Stump, an attorney for the school, told Ars Technica that the school reported back to the same law enforcement office that provided the tip. Connaughton said the Attorney General’s office had authority to investigate or refer the matter to local police, and that the school acted properly based on the information it had.

Ars Technica reported that it could not reach the attorney general for comment. A spokesperson for the office told Lancaster Online that the office does not investigate information submitted through tips and instead passes it to the relevant school and, or, police to investigate.

The girls suing Lancaster Country Day allege a far broader failure. Their complaint says at least 59 girls were harmed while deepfake nude images circulated within the school community. They accuse the school of withholding information from parents, discouraging students from contacting police and failing to provide adequate support after the images became known.

The lawsuit also alleges that Lindsay Deibler-Wallace, assistant head of Upper School, told parents that “boys will be boys” and took no action to protect the girls. The plaintiffs say they were denied equal access to educational opportunities and benefits and accuse the school of violating Title IX by being deliberately indifferent to severe and pervasive sexual harassment.

Why does the Pennsylvania law matter?

The school points to a pending Pennsylvania bill as evidence that current law contains a gap. Lawmakers have been pushing changes that would require schools to notify police quickly when AI-generated nude images involving students are reported, rather than waiting for an internal review to finish.

In a legislative press release cited in the dispute, lawmakers said delays can lead to lost evidence and additional trauma for victims if images continue to spread. The proposal is aimed at closing a loophole in the state’s child abuse definition, which does not explicitly mention AI-generated child sexual abuse material. Lancaster Country Day says the bill is not yet law.

The school also cited Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams’ decision not to charge the school for failure to report. According to the school’s filing, the district attorney concluded that possession and distribution of AI pornography did not fall within crimes defined as child abuse for reporting purposes.

Two male students have pleaded guilty to 59 felony counts of sexual abuse of children. Lancaster Online reported that they were ordered to serve probation and complete 60 hours of community service each. The plaintiffs argue that the original tip described conduct that amounted to child sexual abuse under state and federal law, including the production or possession of child sexual abuse material involving minors.

Lancaster Country Day says the complaint does not allege that images were shared at school, during school hours, through school equipment or over the school’s internet connection. The court will now decide whether that distance from the alleged conduct is enough to remove the school from the case, or whether its response to the tip can support claims such as negligence, Title IX liability or aiding and abetting.

This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.