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High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

Almendralejo, Spain: AI-generated nude images of at least 20 schoolgirls; 15 minors placed under supervised release

In September 2023 families in Almendralejo (Badajoz, Spain) reported that artificial-intelligence 'undressing' applications had been used to create fake nude images of local girls aged 11 to 17 from their social-media photographs, and that the images circulated in WhatsApp groups. Police counted 22 victims and identified 10 suspects, all minors, within days. On 20 June 2024 the Badajoz juvenile court, in an agreed judgment, held 15 minors responsible for 20 counts of child pornography and 20 counts against moral integrity and imposed one year of supervised release with an education programme. In November 2025 elDiario.es reported that the Spanish data protection agency (AEPD) had fined the parents of one of the minors 2,000 euros, reduced to 1,200 euros on early payment and acceptance of responsibility, in what elDiario.es described as the first resolution of its kind in Spain.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
Sept 2023
Reported
18 September 2023
Event location
Spain
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or AbusePsychological Distress
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Education · Privacy · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 9 sources, 7 underlying accounts
6 claims: 1 corroborated, 5 reported. 6 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 20 people

AI system as recorded: AI image 'undressing' applications (not named in the inspected court reporting)

What Happened

At the start of the 2023-24 school year, pupils at four of Almendralejo's five secondary schools found that fake nude images of female classmates were circulating on their phones. The images had been produced by running photographs from the girls' WhatsApp and Instagram profiles through an artificial-intelligence application that generates an imagined nude body, and were shared in WhatsApp groups. A group of mothers, one of whom was a doctor with a public profile, took the case to the police and to the press; police counted 22 victims aged 11 to 17 and identified ten suspects, all minors, within days. Families reported blackmail attempts using the images. On 20 June 2024 the Badajoz juvenile court held 15 minors responsible for 20 counts of child pornography and 20 counts against moral integrity in an agreed judgment and imposed one year of supervised release with an education programme. The application was not named in the inspected court reporting.

Data protection fine. elDiario.es reported on 6 November 2025 that the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos had fined the parents of one of the minors 2,000 euros, the first resolution of its kind in Spain according to the paper. The published notice is anonymised, but the agency confirmed that it arose from the Almendralejo events. The AEPD described the facts as the manipulation of images with artificial intelligence to attach real faces to naked bodies, spread through social networks and a messaging group. With reductions for accepting responsibility and early payment, the parents paid 1,200 euros. elDiario.es also wrote that the images were later found to have been made with an AI app it names; the court reporting inspected for this record does not name the app, and the AEPD resolution itself was not inspected.

Reported harm

At least 20 girls aged 11 to 17 had AI-manipulated nude images of them created from their social-media photographs and shared in WhatsApp groups; families reported blackmail attempts and one mother said some girls would not leave their homes.

Outcome

Resolved

Juzgado de Menores de Badajoz, agreed judgment of 20 June 2024 (reported 9 July 2024 by El País and Infobae citing the TSJEx): 15 minors held responsible for 20 counts of child pornography and 20 counts against moral integrity; one year of supervised release with affective-sexual education, responsible use of information technology and gender-equality content. The Agencia Española de Protección de Datos opened an ex officio investigation in September 2023 (El País, 21 September 2023). On 6 November 2025 elDiario.es reported an AEPD resolution, confirmed by the agency as arising from the Almendralejo events, that fined the parents and legal representatives of one minor 2,000 euros over the dissemination of AI-manipulated images of minors; with the two 20 percent reductions for accepting responsibility and early payment, 1,200 euros was paid. The AEPD identified the alleged authors from information supplied by the prosecutor's office.

What remains unknown

  • The application or applications used are not named in the inspected court reporting; elDiario.es (6 November 2025) names one app, but neither the court record nor the AEPD resolution was inspected to confirm it.
  • When each image was created is not established; the BBC reports that many were believed to have been created over the summer of 2023.
  • Whether any image reached pornographic websites, which the families feared, is not established.
  • The individual consequences for the affected girls beyond the reports cited are not documented.
  • The judgment text was not inspected; its contents are taken from El País and Infobae reporting the TSJEx.
  • The AEPD resolution text, its date and whether other minors' parents were sanctioned were not inspected.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. The Badajoz juvenile court's agreed judgment of 20 June 2024, as reported by El País and Infobae citing the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Extremadura, records as proven fact that the minors used artificial-intelligence applications to superimpose the girls' faces on other bodies. The application is not named in the inspected court reporting.

6 claims: 1 corroborated, 5 reported. What the statuses mean

Corroborated In September 2023 artificial-intelligence image-manipulation applications were used to create fake nude images of secondary-school girls in Almendralejo from photographs taken from their WhatsApp and Instagram profiles, and the images circulated in WhatsApp groups.

Causal attribution. The juvenile court's agreed judgment records the use of AI applications as proven fact (El País and Infobae, 9 July 2024, citing the TSJEx).

  • bbc.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The pictures were created using photos of the targeted girls fully clothed, many of them taken from their own social media accounts. These were then processed by an application that generates an imagined image of the person without clothes on.'
  • elpais.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Que lo han hecho a través de una aplicación de inteligencia artificial.'
  • infobae.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'los responsables de esta manipulación habrían utilizado fotos de perfil de Whatsapp y publicaciones de Instagram de las víctimas para generar los desnudos simulados'
  • elpais.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'recoge como hechos probados que los menores utilizaron aplicaciones de inteligencia artificial para obtener imágenes manipuladas, de tal forma que, a los rostros originales de las chicas, que obtenían de los perfiles de Whatsapp e Instagram de las mismas, les superponían las fotografías de otros cuerpos femeninos desnudos'; 'difundieron las fotografías editadas a través de dos grupos de Whatsapp'
Reported At least 20 girls aged 11 to 17 were affected; police had counted 22 victims and identified 10 suspected authors, all minors, by 21 September 2023.

Causal attribution. Counts are the police and court figures as reported; the BBC also reports a parents' group of 28, which is not used as a harm count.

  • bbc.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'So far more than 20 girls, aged between 11 and 17, have come forward as victims'
  • elpais.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Ya son 22 menores las víctimas de un caso que ha puesto patas arriba a la localidad.'; 'a 10 de los presuntos autores, todos ellos menores de edad'
  • elpais.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'manipular imágenes de al menos 20 niñas residentes en Almendralejo (Badajoz) con inteligencia artificial'
Reported On 20 June 2024 the Badajoz juvenile court, in an agreed judgment, held 15 minors responsible for 20 counts of child pornography and 20 counts against moral integrity and imposed one year of supervised release (libertad vigilada) with affective-sexual education, responsible-technology and gender-equality content.

Causal attribution. Court outcome as reported from the TSJEx; the judgment text itself was not inspected.

  • elpais.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'El Juzgado de Menores de Badajoz ha dictado libertad vigilada durante un año para 15 menores de edad al considerarlos responsables de 20 delitos de pornografía infantil y otros tantos contra la integridad moral'; 'La sentencia del 20 de junio, dictada en conformidad'
  • infobae.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'El tribunal he declarado a estos quince menores responsables de veinte delitos de pornografía infantil y otros tantos contra la integri'; 'recibirán contenido especialmente orientado a recibir formación afectivo sexual, sobre uso responsable de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación, sensibilización en materia de igualdad y género'
  • fortune.com(opens in new tab) context · English
    'a juvenile court this summer sentenced 15 of their classmates to a year of probation'
Reported Mothers reported that girls were blackmailed with the fake images, and police investigated an attempt to extort one of the girls.

Causal attribution. Reported by the families to police and the press; no charge for extortion is recorded in the inspected judgment reporting.

  • bbc.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Investigators are also looking into the claim that an attempt was made to extort one of the girls by using a fake image of her.'
  • infobae.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'según han denunciado varias madres, chantajearon a sus hijas con dinero para no distribuir sus fotografías manipuladas'
Reported One mother said some affected girls would not leave their homes after the images circulated, while her own daughter was bearing up well.

Causal attribution. A parent's account reported by the BBC; not independently confirmed.

  • bbc.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The impact the images' circulation has had on the girls affected varies.'; 'says her daughter is bearing up well, but that some girls'; 'won't even leave their house'
Reported The AEPD fined the parents of one of the minors 2,000 euros, reduced to 1,200 euros for accepting responsibility and early payment, in a resolution the agency confirmed arose from the Almendralejo events; it described the facts as manipulating images with artificial intelligence to attach real faces to naked bodies.

Causal attribution. elDiario.es report of the AEPD resolution, quoting the agency; the resolution was not inspected.

  • eldiario.es(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'ha multado con 2.000 euros a los padres de un menor de edad que usó una herramienta de inteligencia artificial para crear una imagen falsa de una de sus compañeras desnuda'; 'la Agencia ha confirmado que deriva de los hechos sucedidos en Almendralejo en 2023'; 'la manipulación de imágenes con inteligencia artificial para asociar rostros reales de un grupo de personas a cuerpos desnudos que no les correspondían'; 'La cifra final de la multa ha sido, por tanto, de 1.200 euros.'

Sources

9 sources inspected, from 7 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-09-15; datePublished 2023-09-23. Applies to s1.

Model read the Spanish original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review. Re-read on 2026-10-23 from an Internet Archive capture (the live page answered HTTP 403); the locators are verbatim passages from that capture. Applies to s2.

Model read the Spanish original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review. Applies to s3, s6.

Model read the Spanish original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review. Court outcome is reported from TSJEx; the judgment itself was not inspected. Re-read on 2026-10-23 from an Internet Archive capture (the live page answered HTTP 403); the locators are verbatim passages from that capture. Applies to s4.

Model read the Spanish original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review. Court outcome is reported from TSJEx; the judgment itself was not inspected. Infobae credits EFE for this article. Applies to s5.

Associated Press report carried by Fortune; read in English on 2026-09-15. Applies to s7.

Aggregator entry listing press reports; used as context only. Applies to s8.

Read in the original Spanish on 2026-10-23 (HTTP 200). English renderings in this record are the research agent's (an AI's) own translations; no human translator reviewed them. Report of the AEPD resolution, which the paper says the agency confirmed relates to Almendralejo; the resolution itself was not inspected. Applies to s9.

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

Event: the images were made and circulated among pupils of secondary schools in Almendralejo, Badajoz, Spain (BBC; El País 18 and 21 September 2023). Affected persons: girls attending those schools (El País 21 September 2023). Court: Juzgado de Menores de Badajoz (El País and Infobae, 9 July 2024).

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-23: Restored under its original ID after source, duplicate and sensitivity review under the 2026-09-15 charter. Eight sources read, seven in full; no victim or suspect is named; the app named in the earlier record is omitted because the inspected court reporting does not name it. Updated on 2026-10-23 with the AEPD data-protection fine reported by elDiario.es (November 2025).

People described

Girls aged 11 to 17 attending secondary schools in Almendralejo, Badajoz

People reported harmed in this case

At least 20 people

0 AI participants · 20 other people harmed

The juvenile court's agreed judgment, as reported by El País and Infobae from the TSJEx, refers to at least 20 girls; police had counted 22 victims by 21 September 2023 (El País). The court figure is used as the documented minimum. The 15 minors held responsible are not counted as harmed persons.

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

Tags

#deepfakes#spain#school#non-consensual-imagery#juvenile-court

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Almendralejo, Spain: AI-generated nude images of at least 20 schoolgirls; 15 minors placed under supervised release. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2023-spain-almendralejo-deepfake-minors

BibTeX

@misc{2023_spain_almendralejo_deepfake_minors,
  title = {Almendralejo, Spain: AI-generated nude images of at least 20 schoolgirls; 15 minors placed under supervised release},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2023-spain-almendralejo-deepfake-minors}
}

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