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High reported severity Criminal Charges

Incheon high-school student jailed for AI deepfake nude composites of his teachers posted online; a civil court later orders him to pay one teacher damages

In July 2024 a high-school student in Incheon, South Korea, composited the faces of two female teachers at his school and of others, including an academy senior and an instructor, onto nude photos and posted them on social media, according to the charges as reported by Yonhap, the Hankyoreh, the JoongAng Ilbo and the Kyunghyang Shinmun, which describe the technique as AI-based deepfake technology. He had also secretly photographed teachers in class. He was expelled after a teachers' rights committee hearing. On 27 August 2025 the Incheon District Court gave him an indeterminate prison term of one year to one year six months and took him into custody; the court said that as a result the victimised teacher had left teaching and had not returned. On 19 December 2025, after he had turned adult, the appeal division raised the sentence to three years, calling the offence close to 'character assassination' and the teachers' mental shock considerable; OBS reports the sentence is final. On 21 October 2026, according to the Incheon Teachers' Union, a civil judge at the Incheon District Court ordered him, now 20, to pay one teacher 17.7 million won of the roughly 72 million won she claimed.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
Jul 2024
Reported
27 August 2025
Event location
South Korea
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or AbusePsychological DistressProfessional Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Education · Justice · Privacy · Work
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 6 sources
9 claims: 9 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 2 people

AI system as recorded: AI-based deepfake image compositing, as the charges are described in the reporting (tool not named)

What Happened

The offence. According to the charges as reported by Yonhap, the Hankyoreh and the JoongAng Ilbo, in July 2024 a student at a high school in Incheon used AI-based deepfake technology to composite the faces of two female teachers at his school and of others, including an academy senior and an instructor, onto nude photos, and posted them on social media. He was also charged with photographing parts of a teacher's body with his phone at school. During the investigation he said, in substance, that he made the images because the teacher was pretty (Yonhap; JoongAng Ilbo). The Incheon education office's teachers' rights protection committee found a serious infringement of educational activity and he was expelled.

First instance. On 27 August 2025 a single judge of the Incheon District Court sentenced him, then 19 and tried under the Juvenile Act, to an indeterminate prison term of one year to one year six months for editing false video material under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, and took him into custody. According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, he admitted all the charges. The court described how he repeatedly photographed two teachers from behind in class and posted the photos with degrading captions, and, after the posts reached about 10,000 views, posted a composite of one teacher's upper body with a nude photo. It said the teachers' faces were recognisable even to students, and that the offence started in a classroom, threatened the teachers' physical and mental safety, and that as a result the victimised teacher left the classroom and had not returned (JoongAng Ilbo; the report does not say whether this refers to one or both teachers).

Appeal. On 19 December 2025 the Incheon District Court's criminal appeal division, now sentencing him as an adult, imposed three years in prison. It said that posting nude composites of teachers with lurid captions on social media was so bad as to amount to character assassination, that the teachers' mental shock was considerable, and that recovery was hard because social media spreads widely (Yonhap; Hankyoreh). OBS reports that the sentence became final.

Civil damages. On 21 October 2026, according to the Incheon Teachers' Union as reported by Chosun Biz, a civil judge of the Incheon District Court partly upheld a teacher's claim for about 72 million won and ordered the former student, now 20, to pay her 17.7 million won. The union said the amount was disappointing but that the ruling imposed civil liability for illegal filming and deepfake crimes against teachers.

What is not established. No source names the AI tool. The reports describe the deepfake technique from the charges; how the AI use was established is not disclosed.

Reported harm

According to the charges as reported, a student composited two female teachers' faces and others' onto nude photos with AI deepfake technology and posted them on social media; the courts called the teachers' mental shock considerable, the first-instance court said the victimised teacher had left teaching and not returned, and a civil court later ordered damages to one teacher.

Outcome

Ongoing

Expelled after a teachers' rights protection committee hearing (Incheon education office). Incheon District Court, 27 August 2025: indeterminate prison term of one year (minimum) to one year six months (maximum), 40 hours of a sexual-violence treatment programme and a five-year employment ban for institutions for children, youth and disabled people; taken into custody (JoongAng Ilbo, Kyunghyang Shinmun). Prosecutors had sought five years (maximum) to three years (minimum). Appeal, 19 December 2025: three years in prison as an adult, the same treatment programme and employment bans (Yonhap, Hankyoreh); OBS reports the sentence became final. Civil, 21 October 2026: a single judge of the Incheon District Court's civil division ordered him to pay one teacher 17.7 million won of about 72 million won claimed (Incheon Teachers' Union via Chosun Biz; OBS). Whether either side appeals the civil judgment is not reported.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tool was used and how investigators established the AI use.
  • How many people beyond the two teachers were depicted (the charges say an academy senior and instructor, among others).
  • Whether either party appeals the civil judgment, and its reasoning.
  • Which of the two teachers brought the civil suit.
  • Whether the first-instance court reference to the teacher who left teaching concerns one or both teachers.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. According to the charges as reported by Yonhap, the Hankyoreh and the JoongAng Ilbo, the student used AI-based deepfake technology to composite the teachers' faces onto nude photos and posted them on social media; he was convicted of editing false video material and admitted the charges. The generated depictions of the teachers are the harm the courts addressed. The reports do not name the tool or disclose how the AI use was established.

9 claims: 9 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported According to the charges as reported, in July 2024, while a high-school student, he used AI-based deepfake technology to composite the faces of two female teachers at his school and of others, including an academy senior and an instructor, onto nude photos, and posted them on social media.

Causal attribution. The AI attribution comes from the charges as the outlets describe them; he was convicted of editing false video material. The reports do not disclose how the AI use was established or name a tool.

  • yna.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    A군은 지난해 7월 인공지능(AI)을 이용한 딥페이크 기술로 고등학교 여교사 2명과 학원 선배·강사 등의 얼굴을 나체 사진에 합성한 뒤 SNS에 유포한 혐의로 기소됐다.
  • hani.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    앞서 ㄱ군은 지난해 7월 인공지능을 이용한 딥페이크 기술로 고등학교 여교사 2명과 학원 선배·강사 등의 얼굴을 나체 사진에 합성한 뒤 에스엔에스에 유포한 혐의로 기소됐다.
  • joongang.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    A군은 지난해 7월 자신이 다니던 고등학교 여교사 2명과 선배·강사 등을 상대로 인공지능(AI)을 이용한 딥페이크 음란물을 제작해 사회소셜네트워크서비스(SNS)에 유포한 혐의로 기소됐다.
Reported According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, he admitted all the charges at first instance.

Causal attribution. Not causal.

  • khan.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    이 판사는 “A군은 공소사실을 모두 인정하고 반성하고 있으며 형사 처벌을 받은 전력이나 학교생활에 문제를 일으킨 적도 없다”고 설명했다.
Reported On 27 August 2025 the Incheon District Court gave him an indeterminate prison term of one year to one year six months for editing false video material and related offences, and he was taken into custody.

Causal attribution. Not causal; records the legal outcome.

  • joongang.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    인천지법 형사1단독(재판장 이창경)은 27일 성폭력범죄의 처벌 등에 관한 특례법 위반(허위 영상물 편집 등) 혐의로 기소된 A군(19)에 대한 선고공판에서 장기 1년 6개월, 단기 1년의 징역형을 선고했다.
  • khan.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    인천지법 형사1단독 이창경 판사는 27일 선고 공판에서 성폭력범죄의 처벌 등에 관한 특례법상 허위 영상물 편집 등 혐의로 기소된 A군(19)에게 단기 1년~장기 1년 6개월의 징역형을 선고했다.
Reported According to the JoongAng Ilbo, the first-instance court said the offence threatened the teachers' physical and mental safety and that as a result the victimised teacher left the classroom and had not returned.

Causal attribution. The court links the teacher's departure to the offence as a whole, which included illegal filming as well as the composites.

  • joongang.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    그 결과 피해 교사는 교단을 떠나 현재까지 복귀하지 못하고 있는 점 등을 종합적으로 고려했다
Reported According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, the first-instance court said that after his secretly taken photos of two teachers reached about 10,000 views, he posted a composite of one teacher's upper body with a nude photo.

Causal attribution. Describes the composite as the court summarised it.

  • khan.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    이후 영상물 조회 수가 1만회에 달하자 여교사 1명의 상반신과 나체 사진을 합성해 자극적인 문구와 함께 올려 불특정 다수가 보게 했다
Reported On 19 December 2025 the Incheon District Court's criminal appeal division sentenced him, now an adult, to three years in prison, calling the offence close to character assassination and the teachers' mental shock considerable.

Causal attribution. The appeal court describes the harm caused by the composites posted on social media.

  • yna.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    재판부는 "교사들을 상대로 나체 합성 사진과 자극적인 문구를 함께 SNS에 게시해 인격 살인이라고 할 정도로 죄질이 불량하다"며 "교사들의 정신적 충격이 상당하고 전파 가능성이 높은 SNS 특성상 피해 회복도 어렵다"고 설명했다.
  • hani.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    인천지법 형사항소3부(재판장 최성배)는 19일 열린 항소심 선고 공판에서 성폭력범죄의 처벌 등에 관한 특례법상 허위 영상물 편집 등 혐의로 기소된 ㄱ(19)군에게 징역 3년을 선고했다.
Reported OBS reports that the three-year sentence became final.

Causal attribution. Not causal.

Reported On 21 October 2026 a civil judge of the Incheon District Court partly upheld a teacher's claim for about 72 million won and ordered him to pay her 17.7 million won.

Causal attribution. The civil court imposes liability for the harm; the reports do not describe its reasoning.

  • biz.chosun.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    인천지법 민사13단독 이상언 판사는 교사 A씨가 B(20)씨를 상대로 낸 7200여만원의 손해배상 청구소송에서 이날 원고 일부 승소 판결을 내렸다. 이에 따라 B씨는 A씨에게 1770만원을 지급해야 한다.
  • obsnews.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    이 판사는 1천770만 원을 A씨에게 지급하도록 B씨에게 명령했습니다.
Reported He was expelled after the education authorities' teachers' rights protection committee found a serious infringement of educational activity.

Causal attribution. Not causal.

  • yna.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    교육 당국은 교권보호위원회를 열고 중대한 교육활동 침해가 있다고 판단해 A군을 퇴학 처분했다.
  • khan.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    인천시교육청은 지난해 교권보호위원회를 열고 중대한 교육활동 침해가 있다고 판단해 A군을 퇴학 처분했다.

Sources

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

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Korean by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-21 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Yonhap News Agency report of the appeal sentencing, 19 December 2025; HTTP 200, full body read. Applies to s1.

Read in Korean by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-21 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Hankyoreh report of the appeal sentencing, 19 December 2025; HTTP 200, full body read. Applies to s2.

Read in Korean by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-21 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. JoongAng Ilbo report of the first-instance sentencing, 27 August 2025; HTTP 200, full body read. Applies to s3.

Read in Korean by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-21 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Kyunghyang Shinmun report of the first-instance sentencing, 27 August 2025; HTTP 200, full body read. Applies to s4.

Read in Korean by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-21 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Chosun Biz report of the civil judgment, 21 October 2026, attributed to the Incheon Teachers' Union; HTTP 200, full body read. Applies to s5.

Read in Korean by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-21 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. OBS Gyeongin TV report of the civil judgment, 21 October 2026; HTTP 200, full body read. It does not name its source for the judgment. Applies to s6.

Event countries: South Korea. Affected-person countries: South Korea. Court countries: South Korea.

The offending began at the student's high school, where he photographed teachers in class (JoongAng Ilbo; Kyunghyang Shinmun); the Incheon (South Korea) education office expelled him from that school (Kyunghyang Shinmun), so the school and the teachers' workplace are in Incheon; all three judgments were given by the Incheon District Court.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-21: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): a student was convicted, on charges reported as using AI deepfake technology, of compositing his teachers' faces onto nude photos and posting them on social media; the courts recorded the teachers' mental shock and a victimised teacher's departure from teaching, and a civil court ordered damages. No name of the student or the teachers appears in the public record.

People described

Two female teachers at the student's high school, and others including an academy senior and an instructor, whose faces were composited onto nude photos posted on social media

People reported harmed in this case

At least 2 people

0 AI participants · 2 other people harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

Two female teachers at his school, named in the charges as reported by Yonhap, the Hankyoreh, the JoongAng Ilbo, the Kyunghyang Shinmun and OBS; he admitted all charges (Kyunghyang). The charges also cover others, 'an academy senior and instructor, etc.' (Yonhap; JoongAng), whose number is not given, so they are not counted.

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

Tags

#sexual_deepfake#teachers#school#criminal_conviction#civil_damages#south_korea

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Incheon high-school student jailed for AI deepfake nude composites of his teachers posted online; a civil court later orders him to pay one teacher damages. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2024-incheon-high-school-student-ai-deepfake-nude-composites-of-teachers-prison-term-and-civil-damages

BibTeX

@misc{2024_incheon_high_school_student_ai_deepfake_nude_composites_of_teachers_prison_term_and_civil_damages,
  title = {Incheon high-school student jailed for AI deepfake nude composites of his teachers posted online; a civil court later orders him to pay one teacher damages},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2024-incheon-high-school-student-ai-deepfake-nude-composites-of-teachers-prison-term-and-civil-damages}
}

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