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High reported severity Criminal Charges

Mexico City: prosecutors arrest IPN student accused of making classmates' photos into nude images with AI; acquitted twice, later sentenced on another charge

In October 2023 female students at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) business school in Mexico City complained that a fellow student had taken their photos from social media and edited them with artificial intelligence to make them look naked; he was also accused of selling them, which the 2025 conviction did not establish. The IPN expelled him on 16 October and the Mexico City prosecutor's office (FGJCDMX) opened an investigation; on 26 October 2023 it announced his arrest, describing him as accused of manipulating intimate photographs altered with artificial intelligence. Students said eight victims had filed complaints. Police found more than 166,000 images and 20,000 videos, edited and original, on his devices. In December 2024 a judge acquitted him in two cases of violation of privacy; in May 2025 he was sentenced to five years in prison for child sexual abuse material, a conviction based on storage of the material. Other cases remained open.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
26 October 2023
Event location
Mexico
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or Abuse
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Education · Privacy · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources
8 claims: 8 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 8 people

AI system as recorded: Artificial intelligence used to alter classmates' social-media photos so they appeared naked, according to the Mexico City prosecutor's office and the complainants (tool not identified)

What Happened

The complaints. In October 2023 female students of the IPN's Escuela Superior de Comercio y Administración (Santo Tomás) in Mexico City reported a fellow student under the Ley Olimpia, saying he had taken photos from their social media and edited them with artificial intelligence so they appeared naked; he was also accused of selling them. The IPN announced his expulsion on 16 October, and a week after the complaints the Mexico City prosecutor's office opened an investigation. Students said eight victims had filed complaints but that thousands of photos had been modified.

The arrest. On 26 October 2023 the prosecutor's office announced, through the city's head of government and its own account, the arrest of the student accused of manipulating intimate photographs altered with artificial intelligence, after a search of his home. El Financiero later reported that more than 166,000 images and 20,000 videos, edited and original, were found on a tablet, and that the prosecutor's office and cyber police said the material corresponded to students aged 17 to 25.

The courts. In December 2024 a judge acquitted him in two cases of violation of privacy; he stayed in custody because of six further cases and one for child sexual abuse material. In May 2025 he was sentenced to five years in prison for child sexual abuse material. Excélsior reports that this conviction rested on storage of the material, without proof of sale, and that the victims' lawyer said offences concerning the creation and spread of the fake images were still being investigated. No court finding about the AI editing was read.

Reported harm

According to the complainants and the Mexico City prosecutor's office, a student altered classmates' social-media photos with artificial intelligence into nude images and was accused of selling them; eight students filed complaints.

Outcome

Ongoing

Arrested by the FGJCDMX on 26 October 2023 after a search of his home; expelled by the IPN. On 5 December 2024 El Financiero reported that a judge acquitted him in two cases of violation of privacy (the victims' lawyer said she would appeal) and that six further cases and one for child sexual abuse material remained. In May 2025 he was sentenced to five years for child sexual abuse material, based on storage without proof of sale; seven investigation files remained open (Excélsior).

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tool was used and how investigators established its use.
  • How many people were depicted in the altered images and how many images were sold.
  • The outcome of the remaining investigation files and of any appeal.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Mexico City prosecutor's office, which investigated and searched the suspect's home, announced the arrest of the student accused of manipulating intimate photographs altered with artificial intelligence; the complainants say he edited their social-media photos with AI to make them look naked and sold them. The AI-altered images depicting the students are the harm described. The tool and the technical basis of the prosecutor's description are undisclosed, and no court finding on the AI editing was read: the two privacy cases ended in acquittal and the later conviction rested on storage of child sexual abuse material.

8 claims: 8 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported The Mexico City prosecutor's office announced the arrest of the student accused of manipulating intimate photographs altered with artificial intelligence.

Causal attribution. The prosecutor's own post as embedded by El Universal.

  • eluniversal.com.mx(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    La @FiscaliaCDMX logró la detención del alumno acusado de manipular fotografías íntimas alteradas con inteligencia artificial.
Reported Female IPN students reported that a fellow student took their photos from social media and edited them with artificial intelligence to make them look naked; the IPN expelled him and the prosecutor's office opened an investigation a week after the complaints.

Causal attribution. Complainants' account; Vanguardia repeats El Universal's wording, so one origin.

  • eluniversal.com.mx(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    alumnas de esa casa de estudios lo denunciaron por haber robado sus fotos de redes sociales, y luego editarlas con inteligencia artificial para hacerlas parecer desnudas. ... Una semana después de que las alumnas del IPN denunciaron a su compañero por delitos relacionados con la Ley Olimpia, la Fiscalía capitalina abrió una carpeta de investigación por los hechos.
  • vanguardia.com.mx(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    después de que un grupo de alumnas lo denunciara por haber robado sus fotos de redes sociales y, posteriormente, editarlas con inteligencia artificial para hacerlas parecer desnudas.
Reported According to the students, eight victims had filed complaints, and they said thousands of photographs had been modified with artificial intelligence.

Causal attribution. Students' account.

  • eluniversal.com.mx(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    De acuerdo con las estudiantes, hasta ahora únicamente se ha reconocido a ocho víctimas quienes levantaron la denuncia, pero acusaron que son miles las fotografías que fueron modificadas con Inteligencia Artificial.
Reported The arrest followed the execution of a search warrant at his home in the Álvaro Obregón borough.

Causal attribution. Early reports of the prosecutor's operation.

  • vanguardia.com.mx(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    la detención se realizó después de cumplimentar una orden de cateo en su vivienda, ubicada en la alcaldía Álvaro Obregón.
Reported More than 166,000 images and 20,000 videos, edited and original, were found on a tablet, and the prosecutor's office and cyber police said the content corresponded to students aged 17 to 25.

Causal attribution. Prosecutor and police information as reported.

  • elfinanciero.com.mx(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    Al joven se le encontró dentro de una tableta más de 166 mil imágenes y 20 mil videos, tanto editadas como originales, que estaban destinadas a la explotación sexual. ... La Fiscalía y la Policía de la Ciudad de México Cibernética señalaron que el contenido encontrado dentro del dispositivo móvil correspondía a estudiantes, cuyas edades oscilaban entre los 17 y 25 años.
Reported In December 2024 a judge acquitted him in two cases of violation of privacy.

Causal attribution. Court outcome as reported; the judgment was not read.

Reported In May 2025 he was sentenced to five years in prison for child sexual abuse material, a conviction based on storage of the material without proof of sale, while other investigation files remained open.

Causal attribution. Sentence as reported from the victims' collective and lawyer; the judgment was not read.

  • excelsior.com.mx(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    La sentencia se obtuvo por el almacenamiento de contenido sexual infantil, sin que se lograra acreditar su comercialización. ... Tras su detención en octubre de 2023, el acusado fue expulsado de manera definitiva del IPN.
Reported He was accused of taking classmates' photos from social media, editing them with the help of artificial intelligence to create sexual content and selling them; the 2025 conviction did not establish any sale.

Causal attribution. Accusation as reported by El Financiero; Excélsior reports the sale was not proven.

Sources

4 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Spanish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-22 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. El Universal report of 26 Oct 2023 embedding the prosecutor's and the head of government's posts; HTTP 200. Applies to s1.

Read in Spanish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-22 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Vanguardia report of 26 Oct 2023; HTTP 200. Applies to s2.

Read in Spanish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-22 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. El Financiero report of 5 Dec 2024; HTTP 200. Applies to s3.

Read in Spanish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-22 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Excélsior report of 23 May 2025; HTTP 200. Applies to s4.

Event countries: Mexico. Affected-person countries: Mexico. Court countries: Mexico.

The complainants are students of the IPN school in Santo Tomás, Mexico City, the Mexico City prosecutor's office investigated, and the suspect was arrested at his home in the Álvaro Obregón borough; the acquittal and sentence are reported as Mexico City criminal proceedings.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-22: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): the investigating Mexico City prosecutor's office announced the arrest of a student accused of manipulating intimate photographs altered with AI, after classmates complained that he edited their photos into nude images and sold them. The record keeps the acquittals and the storage-based conviction distinct from the AI allegation.

People described

Female students of the IPN business school (ESCA, Santo Tomás) whose social-media photos were allegedly altered with AI into nude images and sold; eight filed complaints, according to the students

People reported harmed in this case

At least 8 people

0 AI participants · 8 other people harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

Eight complainants, according to the students (El Universal). The students say thousands of photos of more people were modified, and the images found are files, not people, so further victims remain unquantified.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#ai_image_tool#sexualised_images#university#ley_olimpia#prosecution#mexico

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Mexico City: prosecutors arrest IPN student accused of making classmates' photos into nude images with AI; acquitted twice, later sentenced on another charge. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2023-mexico-city-prosecutors-arrest-ipn-student-accused-of-editing-classmates-photos-into-nude-images-with-ai

BibTeX

@misc{2023_mexico_city_prosecutors_arrest_ipn_student_accused_of_editing_classmates_photos_into_nude_images_with_ai,
  title = {Mexico City: prosecutors arrest IPN student accused of making classmates' photos into nude images with AI; acquitted twice, later sentenced on another charge},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2023-mexico-city-prosecutors-arrest-ipn-student-accused-of-editing-classmates-photos-into-nude-images-with-ai}
}

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