The Santa Paula Unified School District has suspended several Isbell Middle School students for allegedly using smart glasses to take photos and create sexually explicit images of female classmates using artificial intelligence.
Superintendent Jeffrey Weinstein said the male students were initially suspended for three days on May 15 after allegedly taking photos of middle school girls at school events, including track meets and volleyball games, and manipulating the images. A female middle school teacher who was allegedly photographed in her classroom and on campus and also had images manipulated is in contact with police, he said.
Weinstein said the number of students disciplined is confidential and added that suspensions were extended May 22 as the district continued its investigation. The students have not returned to school, he said.
The Santa Paula Police Department has launched an investigation into several students suspected of taking images and altering them using artificial intelligence, Police Chief Don Aguilar said.
“We will present the case to the Ventura County District Attorney when the investigation is complete,” he said.
The issue drew nearly 10 speakers, with many from Santa Paula High School, during public comment at a May 27 school board meeting. Cytlalli Salgado, a Santa Paula organizer with Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, or CAUSE, said students feel unsafe.
“Students have described feeling anxious, distracted and unsafe at school,” Salgado said at the meeting. “Some of this harm has been circulating on social media since February, if not earlier.”
Gonzalo Hernandez, a 10th grader at Santa Paula High School, said one affected female student is his cousin, who did not want to tell her family.
“I can see her point,” he said after the meeting, adding his cousin was part of “something horrible. I think we need to speak out.”
A man who identified himself as the father of an affected female student told the board that some parents were unaware of the incident and said a three-day suspension was insufficient.
Board members did not respond immediately but some addressed the concerns in comments near the end of the meeting.
“Believe me when we tell you, you are heard,” board member Tommy Frutos said. “There are things we cannot share publicly because of confidentiality.”
Police, who were notified on May 15, have made no arrests, Aguilar said.
Several students are under investigation and Aguilar declined to share the number of affected students or details of the incidents as authorities continue gathering information.
Aguilar said he could not discuss the incident involving the teacher because it involved minors.
Possible criminal charges could range from misdemeanors to felonies, he said.
Weinstein said rumors of locker room photos have not been confirmed. He said counselors met with some students but they have not confirmed reports that the incidents began months earlier. Staff contacted students believed to be affected, and “we have to be very careful about confidentiality,” he said.
An administrative panel will review the case on May 29 and make a recommendation to the board. A final decision will be made in closed session during a June 10 meeting and announced afterward, Weinstein said. The board will also discuss its disciplinary process and its policy on artificial intelligence.
The punishment for the students, who have not appealed the decision, could include expulsion, he said.
Aguilar, who has been in law enforcement for 39 years, said this was the first time he had investigated this type of incident, but he expects them to become more common.
He urged parents to monitor their children’s use of social media, cellphones and computers “to prevent harmful AI images from happening.”
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Santa Paula students suspended over explicit images using smart glasses
Reporting by Wes Woods II, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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