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NOPE
Medium reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

Cookeville, Tennessee: two high-school students were charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor after the sheriff's office said they used an AI program to turn photographs, including those of female classmates, into sexually explicit images and posted them; the mother of one depicted girl says her daughter shut herself in her room and stopped talking to friends

On 31 August 2026 the Putnam County Sheriff's Office was told of possible sharing of sexually explicit images at Cookeville High School. Detectives found that two male teenage students had used an artificial-intelligence program to turn photographs obtained online, in some cases photographs of fellow female students, into sexually explicit images, and had shared them; explicit images already stored on one phone were also shared. Both juveniles were taken to the Putnam County Juvenile Detention Center. One was charged with one count each of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, the other with two counts of each. The district attorney told NewsChannel 5 on 21 September that the two would be prosecuted in juvenile court. The mother of one of the depicted girls told the station the episode was very hard on her daughter, who had made no naked photographs herself, locked herself in her room and would not talk to her, to anybody or to her friends. The sheriff's-office account and the school system's statement were carried by WZTV, WSMV and 3B Media News on 1-2 September; NewsChannel 5 added its own interviews with the sheriff, the district attorney and the mother on 21 September. The tool is not named. The juveniles are not named in any report.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
Aug 2026
Reported
1 September 2026
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or AbusePsychological DistressSocial Isolation
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Education · Privacy · Justice · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts
4 claims: 4 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 1 person

AI system as recorded: AI image-generation or editing program, not named in any report

What Happened

WZTV (Nashville) reported on 1 September 2026 that on 31 August the Putnam County Sheriff's Office learned of possible sharing of sexually explicit images at Cookeville High School, that investigators said two teenagers got photographs from the internet and used an AI program to turn them into sexual images which they shared with others, that they also shared explicit images already stored on one phone, and that deputies took both to the Putnam County Juvenile Detention Center. WSMV and 3B Media News carried the same sheriff's account on 2 September, with the charge counts and the school system's statement. NewsChannel 5 (WTVF) reported on 21 September that Sheriff Eddie Farris said the male students had used an artificial-intelligence program to create deepfake images, in some cases using photographs of fellow female students and placing their faces on sexually explicit images, then posting them on social media, and that some were stored on one juvenile's phone and distributed. The station spoke to the mother of one of the girls, who said she and her daughter closely monitor their social-media content, that the episode was very hard on her daughter, and: 'She didn't make any naked photos and it still happens ... with AI, we can't do anything. She wouldn't talk to me or anybody ... locked herself in her room. She wouldn't even talk to her friends.' The sheriff said: 'Technology continues to change, but the responsibility that comes with using it does not.' No report names the AI program, the number of girls depicted, or the juveniles.

Reported harm

Female students were depicted in AI-made sexually explicit images that were shared and posted on social media; the mother of one girl reports that her daughter withdrew, shut herself in her room and stopped talking to family and friends. The images and their sharing are attributed by the sheriff's office to two students who have been charged; the girl's distress is her mother's account.

Outcome

Ongoing

Criminal: two juveniles were charged (one with one count each of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, the other with two counts of each) and taken to the Putnam County Juvenile Detention Center (sheriff's office via WZTV, 1 September 2026, and WSMV and 3B Media News, 2 September). District Attorney Bryant Dunaway told NewsChannel 5 on 21 September 2026 that the suspects will be prosecuted in juvenile court. School: the Putnam County School System said students who create, share or keep digitally altered images intended to embarrass, harass, humiliate or harm others will face the strongest penalties allowed by policy. No court outcome was reported by 22 September 2026. The record's incident date is August 2026 with month precision: the sheriff's office was notified on 31 August 2026 and the sheriff said on 21 September that the images had been made 'last month'; the exact creation and posting dates are not reported.

What remains unknown

  • The AI program used and how the images were made.
  • How many students were depicted; the sheriff says photographs of fellow female students were used in some cases.
  • When the images were created and posted (the sheriff's office was notified on 31 August 2026; the sheriff spoke of 'last month' on 21 September).
  • The outcome of the juvenile-court proceedings.
  • Whether the depicted students received support from the school.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office says the two students used an artificial-intelligence program to turn photographs obtained online into sexually explicit images; Sheriff Farris told NewsChannel 5 the program was used to create deepfake images placing female students' faces on sexually explicit images. No tool is named and no forensic report is public. The AI artifacts depicted the girls; no AI system interacted with them.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported On 31 August 2026 the Putnam County Sheriff's Office was notified of possible sharing of sexually explicit images at Cookeville High School; investigators found that two teenage students had used an artificial-intelligence program to turn photographs obtained online, in some cases photographs of fellow female students, into sexually explicit images and had shared or posted them, and that explicit images already stored on one phone were also shared.

Causal attribution. The sheriff's office is the origin of this account in every report, including NewsChannel 5's interview with the sheriff; it is not independently established.

  • fox17.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'learned about possible sharing of sexually explicit images at the school.'; 'Investigators say two teenagers got photos from the internet and used an AI program to turn them into sexual images, then shared those pictures with others.'
  • wsmv.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said it was notified of the incident on August 31.'; 'Detectives discovered that the juveniles used an artificial intelligence program to create sexually explicit images using photos found online, then distributed the images. Authorities also said explicit images already stored on one juvenile’s phone were shared.'
  • newschannel5.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'the male teen students used an artificial intelligence program to create deepfake images -- in some cases using photos of fellow female students -- placing their faces on sexually explicit images ... and then posting them on social media.'
Reported Both juveniles were taken to the Putnam County Juvenile Detention Center; one was charged with one count each of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, the other with two counts of each; the district attorney said they will be prosecuted in juvenile court.

Causal attribution. Charges per the sheriff's office; prosecution venue per the district attorney's interview.

  • fox17.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Deputies took both teenagers to the Putnam County Juvenile Detention Center.'; 'One is charged with one count of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, while the other faces two counts of each charge.'
  • wsmv.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The second juvenile was charged with two counts each of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.'
  • newschannel5.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'He says the suspects will be prosecuted in juvenile court and hopes a lesson is learned.'
Reported The mother of one of the depicted girls told NewsChannel 5 that the episode was very hard on her daughter, who had made no naked photographs herself, locked herself in her room and would not talk to her, to anybody or to her friends.

Causal attribution. The mother's account to one station; the daughter is not identified.

  • newschannel5.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'A mother of one of the girls says she and her daughter closely monitor their social media content. It's frustrating that this happened ... and was very hard on her daughter.'; 'She didn't make any naked photos and it still happens ... with AI, we can't do anything. She wouldn't talk to me or anybody ... locked herself in her room. She wouldn't even talk to her friends.'
Reported The Putnam County School System said students who create, share or keep digitally altered images intended to embarrass, harass, humiliate or harm others will face the strongest penalties allowed by policy.

Causal attribution. School system statement relayed with the sheriff's-office account.

  • fox17.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'students caught making, sharing, or keeping digitally altered images designed to embarrass or harm someone else will face the strongest penalties allowed'
  • wsmv.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'students involved in creating, possessing or distributing altered visual media intended to embarrass, harass, humiliate or harm others will face discipline to the fullest extent allowed by policy.'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 2 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read live in English on 2026-09-22 (WZTV/FOX17 Nashville, 1 September 2026). Relays the Putnam County Sheriff's Office account and the school system's statement. Applies to s1.

Read live in English on 2026-09-22 (WSMV Nashville, 2 September 2026). Same sheriff's-office account; grouped with s1. Applies to s2.

Read live in English on 2026-09-22 (3B Media News, Upper Cumberland, 2 September 2026). Same sheriff's-office account; grouped with s1. Applies to s3.

Read live in English on 2026-09-22 (NewsChannel 5 / WTVF Nashville, published 21 September 2026 16:40 CDT; JSON-LD articleBody also retained). Own reporting: interviews with Sheriff Eddie Farris, District Attorney Bryant Dunaway and the mother of one depicted girl. Applies to s4.

WKRN (2 September 2026) answered HTTP 403 live, via the Internet Archive capture of 3 September 2026 and via r.jina.ai on 2026-09-22; headline only. Not relied on. Applies to s5.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: Unknown.

Cookeville High School, Putnam County, Tennessee (sheriff's office via WZTV, WSMV, 3B Media News; NewsChannel 5). The district attorney says the case will be prosecuted in juvenile court; no court record or hearing was reported, so no court country is recorded.

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-22: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an image-based abuse case affecting minors, documented by the sheriff's-office account through three outlets and by a station's own interviews with the sheriff, the district attorney and a parent. Not a death case. The juveniles and the depicted students are unnamed; officials are named.

People described

Female students of Cookeville High School whose photographs were turned into sexually explicit images; one depicted girl's mother describes her withdrawal; the number depicted is not reported; the charges concern sexual exploitation of a minor; none named

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

One depicted girl is counted from her mother's account to NewsChannel 5; the sheriff says photographs of fellow female students were used 'in some cases' and NewsChannel 5 refers to 'the victims' and 'one of the girls' in the plural, but no number is reported. Partial: 1 counted plus an unquantified number of other depicted students. The two charged juveniles are not counted.

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

Tags

#deepfake#ai-generated-imagery#ncii#school#tennessee#cookeville#juvenile-court

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Cookeville, Tennessee: two high-school students were charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor after the sheriff's office said they used an AI program to turn photographs, including those of female classmates, into sexually explicit images and posted them; the mother of one depicted girl says her daughter shut herself in her room and stopped talking to friends. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-cookeville-tennessee-high-school-ai-deepfake-images-two-juveniles-charged

BibTeX

@misc{2026_cookeville_tennessee_high_school_ai_deepfake_images_two_juveniles_charged,
  title = {Cookeville, Tennessee: two high-school students were charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor after the sheriff's office said they used an AI program to turn photographs, including those of female classmates, into sexually explicit images and posted them; the mother of one depicted girl says her daughter shut herself in her room and stopped talking to friends},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-cookeville-tennessee-high-school-ai-deepfake-images-two-juveniles-charged}
}

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