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Medium reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened

Rimini: police report a minor to the juvenile prosecutor for allegedly making and spreading images, apparently created with AI, that attached a girl's face to a nude body and circulated in chats

The Squadra mobile of the Rimini police reported a minor to prosecutors, accused of making and spreading images manipulated with artificial intelligence. According to the Polizia di Stato, the investigation began after a report that images apparently created with AI were circulating in which a girl's face had been attached to a nude body without her knowledge. Corriere di Bologna reports that the minor was reported to the juvenile prosecutor's office in Bologna on 30 September 2026 for unlawful dissemination of AI-falsified content and child pornography, and that investigators say the image was sent to friends and acquaintances on WhatsApp. Neither the girl nor the accused is identified.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
1 October 2026
Event location
Italy
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or Abuse
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Privacy · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account
4 claims: 1 documented, 3 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 1 person

AI system as recorded: Images apparently created with artificial intelligence systems (Polizia di Stato) in which a girl's face was attached to a nude body; Corriere di Bologna says a chatbot-type image generator was used but names products only as examples, and the tool is not identified

What Happened

In a release published on 1 October 2026, the Polizia di Stato said that officers of the Squadra mobile of Rimini had reported a young minor accused of making and spreading images manipulated with artificial intelligence. The investigation began after a report about images, apparently created with artificial intelligence systems, in which a girl's face had been associated with a nude body without her knowing anything about it. Officers of the crimes-against-the-person section examined devices and digital data and reconstructed how the files were shared, taking account of the young age of those involved. San Marino RTV and Teleromagna, relaying the Questura's account, say the work was coordinated with the juvenile prosecutor's office. Corriere di Bologna adds that the minor was reported on 30 September for unlawful dissemination of AI-falsified content and for child pornography; that, according to the investigation, the minor cut the face out of a photograph of a girl of the same age known by sight and composed it with a generic nude using an AI image generator; and that the image was sent to friends and acquaintances on WhatsApp together with other artificially created images that circulated widely in chats. The Questura of Rimini warned young people and families that conduct some regard as jokes, retaliation or online mockery can amount to serious offences.

Reported harm

A girl's face was attached to a nude body in images, apparently made with AI, that circulated without her knowledge (Polizia di Stato); Corriere di Bologna reports that one such image was sent to friends and acquaintances on WhatsApp.

Outcome

Ongoing

The Squadra mobile of Rimini reported (denuncia) a minor; Corriere di Bologna says the report went to the juvenile prosecutor's office in Bologna on 30 September 2026 for the offence of unlawful dissemination of AI-falsified content (article 612-quater of the criminal code) and child pornography. No court proceeding or outcome is reported.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tool was used and when the image was made.
  • How many images were made and whether other people were depicted in the other artificially created images.
  • How the girl was affected beyond the circulation of the image.
  • The prosecutor's decision and any juvenile court outcome.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Polizia di Stato release says the minor is accused of making and spreading images manipulated with artificial intelligence and describes the images as apparently created with AI systems. Corriere di Bologna quotes an account introduced only as 'stando a quanto riferito' that investigators checked how the AI tools used to manipulate the images were employed, and says a chatbot-type image generator was used, naming products only as examples. The images were not inspected. They depict the girl (depicted_or_impersonated).

4 claims: 1 documented, 3 reported. What the statuses mean

Documented Officers of the Squadra mobile of Rimini reported (denuncia) a young minor, accused of making and spreading images manipulated with artificial intelligence.

Causal attribution. The police's own statement of its action; the accusation is not a finding of guilt.

  • poliziadistato.it(opens in new tab) supports · Italian
    'Con l’accusa di aver realizzato e diffuso immagini manipolate con l’intelligenza artificiale, i poliziotti della Squadra mobile di Rimini hanno denunciato un giovane minorenne.'
Reported The investigation began after a report that images, apparently created with artificial intelligence systems, were circulating in which a girl's face had been attached to a nude body without her knowledge.

Causal attribution. Police account; the AI origin is described as apparent.

  • poliziadistato.it(opens in new tab) supports · Italian
    'L’indagine è iniziata dopo la segnalazione relativa alla circolazione di immagini apparentemente create grazie a sistemi di intelligenza artificiale, nelle quali il volto di una minore sarebbe stato associato ad un corpo nudo, senza che la ragazza ne sapesse nulla.'
  • sanmarinortv.sm(opens in new tab) supports · Italian
    'gli scatti fasulli che riportavano il viso della minorenne incollato in modo realistico a corpi svestiti'
Reported According to Corriere di Bologna, the minor was reported to the juvenile prosecutor's office in Bologna on 30 September 2026 for the offence of unlawful dissemination of AI-falsified content and for child pornography.

Causal attribution. Reported by Corriere di Bologna; allegations only.

Reported According to Corriere di Bologna, investigators say the minor altered a photograph of a girl of the same age known to the minor and then sent it to friends and acquaintances on WhatsApp, together with other artificially created images that circulated widely in chats.

Causal attribution. Investigative account reported in the conditional; allegations only.

  • corrieredibologna.corriere.it(opens in new tab) supports · Italian
    'avrebbe alterato una fotografia di una coetanea sua conoscente'; 'Stando alle indagini il minorenne avrebbe poi inviato la fotografia alternata ad amici e conoscenti su Whatsapp.'; 'sarebbe stata quindi inviata assieme ad altre immagini create artificialmente che avrebbero circolato parecchio nelle chat.'

Sources

3 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read live in Italian on 2026-10-02 (Polizia di Stato website, 1 October 2026). Researcher translation. Applies to s1.

Read live in Italian on 2026-10-02 via its AMP version (Corriere di Bologna, 1 October 2026; article body also in JSON-LD). Adds investigative details attributed to the inquiry and quotes the Questura's note, so it is grouped with the police account. Researcher translation. Applies to s2.

Read live in Italian on 2026-10-02 (San Marino RTV, 1 October 2026); relays the Questura's account, with wording shared by Teleromagna. Researcher translation. Applies to s3.

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

The Polizia di Stato release and Corriere di Bologna place the investigation with the Squadra mobile of Rimini, and Corriere says the minor was reported to the juvenile prosecutor's office in Bologna, Italy. No source states where the girl lives; no court proceeding is reported.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-02: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated), consistent with existing school and youth AI-imagery rows (Jaú, Edmonton): the Rimini police reported a minor for making and spreading an apparently AI-made image that attached a girl's face to a nude body. One police chain (the Polizia di Stato release and the Questura's note) read across three outlets; neither young person is identified. The police action is documented by the police release; the other claims stay reported. No date of creation is stated, so the event date is unknown.

People described

A girl, a minor of about the same age as the reported youth, who knew the youth by sight (Corriere di Bologna); not identified

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One girl whose face was used (Polizia di Stato: 'il volto di una minore'; Corriere di Bologna: 'una coetanea'). Corriere says the image was sent with other artificially created images whose subjects are not described, so 1 is a documented minimum. The accused minor and chat recipients are not counted.

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#whatsapp#italy#rimini#italian-language

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Rimini: police report a minor to the juvenile prosecutor for allegedly making and spreading images, apparently created with AI, that attached a girl's face to a nude body and circulated in chats. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-rimini-minor-reported-to-prosecutor-ai-fake-nude-image-of-girl-shared-in-chats

BibTeX

@misc{2026_rimini_minor_reported_to_prosecutor_ai_fake_nude_image_of_girl_shared_in_chats,
  title = {Rimini: police report a minor to the juvenile prosecutor for allegedly making and spreading images, apparently created with AI, that attached a girl's face to a nude body and circulated in chats},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-rimini-minor-reported-to-prosecutor-ai-fake-nude-image-of-girl-shared-in-chats}
}

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