The father of a girl whose photo was used in explicit AI-generated images created by a Mason High School classmate says the school district did not do enough to protect his daughter.
Anthony Klinker, parent of a sophomore, spoke up at an April 21 Mason schools Board of Education meeting, saying the accused boy was in school days after police identified his daughter and others as victims.
He said police told him the boy would be pulled from school by his parents – and that didn’t happen.
Klinker told The Enquirer he was informed April 3 by Mason police that his daughter was victimized by the student – who appeared in Warren County Juvenile Court on April 14 facing charges related to AI deepfakes.
But on April 6, Klinker said, the teenager was back in school.
“‘I’m really worried about tomorrow because we have a class together and he sits at my table,'” Klinker recalled his daughter saying.
In statement to The Enquirer, Mason schools said the district is legally obligated to allow the accused 16-year-old to attend school amid legal proceedings, when he’s yet to be formally found guilty of a crime.
Police say teen made, shared explicit AI images of classmates
The student was accused of using photos from at least seven underage peers’ social media accounts to create 43 sexually explicit photos and videos of them with artificial intelligence, Mason Police Detective Andrew Herrlinger told The Enquirer.
In addition to allegedly creating the AI content, he is accused of posting it on Discord, a popular chat app, police said. Several messages found on the boy’s phone detailed sexual fantasies involving stabbing and murdering females, Warren County Prosecutor John Rye said at the teen’s arraignment.
The teenager’s case marks the second investigation into a Mason High School student regarding AI-generated sexual content. The first involved a 17-year-old, who was arrested March 30.
At an April 15 court hearing, the child’s mother said he hadn’t been attending school amid the arrest and will not be returning for the rest of the year. Warren County Juvenile Court Judge Joseph Kirby placed him on house arrest.
Despite backlash, board member praises district’s efforts
The parent said his daughter was offered counseling and other support services in the aftermath of the allegations about the AI-generated content.
Klinker told the school board, “I appreciate the response but it’s not enough.”
He said he emailed every board member, Mason Superintendent Jonathan Cooper and Mason High School principal Ben Brown, asking about the defendant’s potential punishment and why he was still allowed to attend school.
At first, there was “No answer. Crickets,” he said.
His inquiry was then passed to Mason schools’ spokeswoman Tracey Carson, who told him she could not divulge information about the suspect due to federal student privacy laws, Klinker told The Enquirer.
Following Klinker’s comment at the April 21 meeting, Mason board member Charles Galvin praised the district’s efforts.
“If, God forbid, that did happen, there’s not a district, there’s not an administration that I would rather be surrounded by and be in the presence of than our own because I know how seriously and how heartfelt our administration and our board takes these matters,” he said.
Disciplinary authority in hands of police, Mason schools says
When asked about the two cases of Mason High students being charged with creating AI-generated sexual content, Carson told The Enquirer the district cannot suspend or expel a student merely suspected of a crime.
“In this case, where the incidents happened off school property some time ago and did not involve school events, the district was not informed of the allegations until after the victims and their families,” she said.
Given that Klinker’s daughter and other victims have protective orders against the accused student, Mason schools has “implemented appropriate safety measures,” like adjusting student schedules and “informed necessary staff,” Carson said.
Carson did not directly respond to The Enquirer’s questions about whether the district will punish the students in question for violating the student code of conduct, sexual harassment and other district policies. But she outlined that the district’s legal ability to suspend or excel a student is largely limited to misconduct on school property, at a school activity or on a school bus.
“In most cases, when alleged misconduct takes place entirely outside school jurisdiction, the matter falls under law enforcement, not the school’s disciplinary authority,” Carson said.
‘My mind races to what ifs,’ victim’s parent says
Even with the protective order and the suspect’s house arrrest, Klinker said he’s still worried about his daughter’s safety at school.
He believes other students were identified as victims earlier than April 3, and the district “could’ve suspended him the first time a girl brought this to their attention.”
A Mason police arrest report from Jan. 13 indicates that the crime occurred in May 2025 and warrants were served to search the student’s home on March 23.
“They all said we need to keep this hush hush,” Klinker said about Mason’s administration, which released an umbrella statement addressing the usage of artificial intelligence to generate inappropriate content a week after the first teen’s arrest.
No specific cases were addressed in the statement.
“It’s like they don’t want to tarnish Mason’s pride and joy,” Klinker said “My mind races to the ‘what ifs. What if this kid followed through with his thoughts, brought a knife to school and started stabbing someone? (Mason) knew these threats.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Student behind sexual AI images should be expelled, victim’s dad says
Reporting by Grace Tucker, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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