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High reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened

Buenos Aires: AI-generated fake intimate images of 13- and 14-year-old girls at the Carlos Pellegrini school circulate in pupils' WhatsApp groups; families file a complaint and the national ministry demands answers from the UBA

Perfil reported on 1 October 2026 that fake intimate images of female pupils, created with artificial intelligence, had circulated in the WhatsApp groups of second-year students at the Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini, a secondary school run by the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). The girls are 13 and 14 years old. The case came to light in late June 2026, and the school acknowledged the chats on 30 June. According to the report, the students involved manipulated, spread and sold the material, and a message on classroom desks told the victims the boys would keep undressing and selling them. Families filed a complaint with the Buenos Aires City cybercrime prosecution unit (UFEDICI) on 16 July and say the school has not concluded disciplinary action. By 1 October the national Ministry of Human Capital had asked the UBA rector for a detailed report on the protective measures and sanctions applied.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
Jun 2026
Reported
1 October 2026
Event location
Argentina
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 · 3 sources
5 claims: 5 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

AI system as recorded: Artificial intelligence used to create fake intimate images of female pupils, as reported (tool not identified)

What Happened

The images. According to Perfil (1 October 2026), fake intimate images of female pupils created with artificial intelligence circulated in the WhatsApp groups of second-year students at the Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini, a UBA secondary school in Buenos Aires. The girls are between 13 and 14. The report says the students involved manipulated, spread and sold the explicit material of their classmates, and that a message written on classroom desks told the victims: you can report us, but we will not stop undressing you and selling you.

Timeline. The case came to light at the end of June 2026. On 30 June the school's management acknowledged the chats and announced that its protocols would be applied. On 16 July the families filed a complaint with the UFEDICI, the City of Buenos Aires prosecution unit for computer crimes, and sent formal letters to the UBA rectorate and governing council asking for the gender-violence protocol to be applied. The families say the complaint is meant to trace whether the AI images are still circulating online so that their sale can be blocked. On 4 August the school reported that its digital-violence protocol had been activated and the city's children's rights council notified. More than two months later, the families said in the week of the report that no concrete resolution against the boys had been communicated.

Ministry intervention. Perfil reported on 1 October that the national Ministry of Human Capital had asked the UBA rector for a detailed report on the containment measures, disciplinary warnings and sanctions applied. Its statement said the repetition of such incidents, which it linked to recent episodes involving pupils of the Carlos Pellegrini and the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, was especially serious because it affected the girls' integrity, privacy and dignity.

Limits. Three outlets (Perfil, Infobae, La Nación) were read; they draw on the families and ministry, the victims' testimony and the prosecutor respectively. The number of girls, the tool used, how the sale took place and the status of the prosecution are not reported. No one is identified. Infobae reports that the group members were mostly Pellegrini pupils with some pupils of the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, and that the first alerts came on 27 June when second-year girls posted about a WhatsApp group sharing packs of AI-altered images. La Nación (10 July) relays the UFEDYCI prosecutor, Daniela Dupuy, saying about 50 minors emerge from the first steps of the investigation and that it is examining who produced, distributed and sold the material and whether those involved can be prosecuted; Infobae says the case is investigated as production and distribution of child sexual exploitation images. The number of girls depicted is still not given.

Reported harm

Female pupils aged 13 and 14 were depicted in AI-generated fake intimate images that circulated in pupils' WhatsApp groups and were reportedly sold, with a written threat to continue, according to Perfil's report of the families' and the ministry's statements.

Outcome

Ongoing

Families filed a complaint with the UFEDICI (Unidad Fiscal Especializada en Delitos y Contravenciones Informáticas) of the City of Buenos Aires on 16 July 2026, asking for a trace of whether the AI images still circulate, so that their sale can be blocked. The school acknowledged the chats on 30 June and reported on 4 August that its digital-violence protocol had been activated and the city's children's rights council notified; the families say no disciplinary resolution has been communicated. By 1 October 2026 the national Ministry of Human Capital, through its Undersecretariat for University Policy, had formally asked the UBA rector for a detailed report on measures and sanctions. Infobae reported on 8 August that the pupils identified had been suspended for a few days.

What remains unknown

  • How many pupils were depicted.
  • Which AI tool was used and who made the images.
  • How and to whom the images were sold.
  • The status of the UFEDICI complaint and of any disciplinary sanction beyond the few days' suspension Infobae reported in August.
  • When the images were first made and shared.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Perfil describes the images as fake intimate images created with artificial intelligence and reports the families' aim of tracing whether the images generated with AI still circulate. The images depicted the pupils (depicted_or_impersonated). The prosecutor told Radio Mitre (relayed by La Nación) that pupils used an AI app that undresses existing photos of classmates; Infobae reported on 8 August that judicial investigators were still working to establish whether the photos were made with AI. The tool used is not reported.

5 claims: 5 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Fake intimate images of female pupils aged 13 and 14, created with artificial intelligence, circulated in the WhatsApp groups of second-year students at the Carlos Pellegrini school, and the case came to light in late June 2026.

Causal attribution. Reported by three outlets drawing on different accounts (the families and ministry, the victims' testimony, the prosecutor); the girls' ages come from Perfil alone, so the claim stays reported.

  • perfil.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'El escándalo de las falsas imágenes íntimas creadas con inteligencia artificial en la Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini escaló hasta el Gobierno nacional.'; 'A más de dos meses de que el horror comenzara a circular en los grupos de WhatsApp de los alumnos de segundo año'; 'La pesadilla para las jóvenes de entre 13 y 14 años salió a la luz a fines de junio.'
  • infobae.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Todo salió a la luz a fines de junio, cuando varias alumnas de segundo año comenzaron a denunciar la existencia de estos grupos.'; 'descubrir un grupo de WhatsApp en el que sus compañeros compartían packs de imágenes y videos alterados con IA'
  • lanacion.com.ar(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'La investigación por la difusión y presunta comercialización de imágenes de alumnas del Colegio Carlos Pellegrini generadas con inteligencia artificial continúa avanzando.'
Reported According to the reports, the students involved manipulated, spread and sold the material (offered in packs priced around 1,000 pesos, per the victims' testimony reported by Infobae), and a message on classroom desks told the victims the boys would not stop undressing and selling them.

Causal attribution. Reported; how and to whom the material was sold is not described.

  • perfil.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'cuáles fueron las sanciones efectivas contra los estudiantes que manipularon, difundieron y comercializaron el material explícito de sus compañeras.'; 'Ustedes nos pueden delatar, pero no vamos a parar de desnudarlas y venderlas'
  • infobae.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Según el testimonio de las víctimas, que eran compañeras de curso, amigas o ex parejas de los acusados, las fotos manipuladas eran ofrecidas en'
Reported The school acknowledged the chats on 30 June 2026, and the families filed a complaint with the City of Buenos Aires cybercrime prosecution unit (UFEDICI) on 16 July 2026, seeking to trace whether the AI images still circulate so their sale can be blocked.

Causal attribution. Reported from the families' statement.

  • perfil.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'El 30 de ese mes, la conducción del Carlos Pellegrini reconoció la existencia de los chats'; 'El pasado 16 de julio presentaron una denuncia formal ante la Unidad Fiscal Especializada en Delitos y Contravenciones Informáticas (UFEDICI) de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires.'; 'determinar si las imágenes generadas con IA continúan circulando en redes sociales o sitios de internet, para así bloquear de inmediato su comercialización.'
Reported By 1 October 2026 the national Ministry of Human Capital had formally asked the UBA for answers on the lack of protection for the affected pupils and for a detailed report on sanctions, and the families say the school has not communicated a resolution.

Causal attribution. Reported ministry action and family statement.

  • perfil.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'exigió formalmente a la Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) que brinde respuestas claras sobre la falta de protección hacia las alumnas afectadas'; 'la institución sigue sin comunicar una resolución concreta contra los varones involucrados.'
Reported The UFEDYCI prosecutor said her unit is investigating the production, distribution and alleged sale of the images, that about 50 minors emerge from the first steps of the investigation, and that whether they can be prosecuted must be established.

Causal attribution. The prosecutor's statements as relayed. Infobae attributes the figure of 50 to the same prosecutor's radio statements, so s2 and s3 are one chain for this claim. 50 is an early figure for people involved, not victims.

  • lanacion.com.ar(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Ante una consulta sobre si los involucrados serían alrededor de 50 alumnos, la fiscal respondió que, en principio, esa sería la cantidad que surge de las primeras actuaciones.'; 'Tenemos que determinar si las personas que cometieron estos delitos son punibles'
  • infobae.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'La causa es investigada como producción y difusión de imágenes de explotación sexual infantil, y habría 50 menores involucrados en la propagación del material audiovisual.'

Sources

3 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 on 2026-10-04 (HTTP 200). Researcher translation. Cites the families' statement and the Ministry of Human Capital communiqué. Applies to s1.

Read in Spanish on 2026-10-04 (HTTP 200). Researcher translation. Infobae's own reporting (byline Matias Chierasco), citing the victims' testimony and the school authorities. Applies to s2.

Read in Spanish on 2026-10-04 (HTTP 200). Researcher translation. Relays prosecutor Daniela Dupuy's Radio Mitre interview; the broadcast itself was not heard. Applies to s3.

Event countries: Argentina. Affected-person countries: Argentina. Court countries: Unknown.

The images circulated among pupils of the Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the complaint was filed with a City of Buenos Aires prosecution unit. No court proceeding is reported, so court_countries is empty.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-04: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case: according to three outlets drawing on the families, the victims and the prosecutor, AI-generated fake intimate images depicted schoolgirls aged 13 and 14 and circulated among pupils. No pupil is identified; the image content is not described.

People described

Female second-year pupils aged 13 and 14 at the Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini, Buenos Aires (number and identities not reported)

People reported harmed in this case

Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

The report refers to the affected pupils in the plural, aged 13 to 14, but gives no number. Unquantified, with zero placeholders.

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

Tags

#deepfakes#ai-generated-imagery#ncii#school#whatsapp#argentina#buenos-aires#spanish-language

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Buenos Aires: AI-generated fake intimate images of 13- and 14-year-old girls at the Carlos Pellegrini school circulate in pupils' WhatsApp groups; families file a complaint and the national ministry demands answers from the UBA. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-buenos-aires-carlos-pellegrini-ai-fake-intimate-images-of-schoolgirls-whatsapp

BibTeX

@misc{2026_buenos_aires_carlos_pellegrini_ai_fake_intimate_images_of_schoolgirls_whatsapp,
  title = {Buenos Aires: AI-generated fake intimate images of 13- and 14-year-old girls at the Carlos Pellegrini school circulate in pupils' WhatsApp groups; families file a complaint and the national ministry demands answers from the UBA},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-buenos-aires-carlos-pellegrini-ai-fake-intimate-images-of-schoolgirls-whatsapp}
}

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