Lake Zurich mom calls for relocation of students accused in AI porn incident: ‘A deep violation of the girls’ personhood’

A Lake Zurich High School parent called for the students accused of creating AI pornographic images of their classmates to be relocated during the ongoing criminal investigation at Thursday’s Board of Education meeting.

Jessica Vealitzek spoke to the Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 board during public comments, warning of the negative impact victims face having to see those allegedly responsible at school, which she added sends a bad message to the girls, “would-be perpetrators” and the broader community.

Vealitzek is a Lake County Board member for District 10, which includes Lake Zurich, but she said she spoke Thursday in her role as a school district parent.

Earlier this month, D95 Superintendent Kelley Gallt sent out a letter to the community saying students had used artificial intelligence to generate pornographic images of their classmates. According to the letter, the school first learned of the situation in late February and filed a report with the Lake Zurich Police Department.

The department confirmed it had been contacted by the district and was conducting an “ongoing investigation,” but said additional information was limited due to the involvement of minors.

In Vealitzek’s comments, she tied the incident to a broader issue of abuse and harassment, with “men or boys using the bodies of girls for their own enjoyment without permission.”

“The creation and distribution of deepfake, non-consensual pornography of, as of yesterday, 33 underage girls was a violation of several of the stated values of this school and community, and it was a deep violation of the girls’ personhood and agency over their own bodies,” she said.

The number of impacted girls has not been announced publicly by the school district, and the district did not respond to a request for clarification or additional comment on Friday.

Vealitzek called for the district to take the incident seriously, despite the age of the alleged offenders and the use of AI to create the images.

“It might be appealing to diminish their actions, to feel that it is somehow less offensive or less harmful,” she said. “That tendency is understandable, but it is wrong. The data of harm exists. The effects seen in more classic, non-consensual pornography cases are often present in digital deepfake pornography victims as well.”

Vealitzek also warned of the impact on victims seeing the alleged perpetrators at school, or continuing to play in after-school sports. The girls need to know the system was supporting them, she said.

“Allowing the boys to remain in the school building and in school sports while they are being investigated for sexual crime sends the wrong signal to the girls,” she said.

It is putting the burden on the girls “to bear the weight in class, in the halls and in social circles,” Vealitzek continued.

She called for the involved students under investigation to be removed from the school during the criminal investigation, and to continue their education at the Regional Office of Education or elsewhere.

“No amount of manipulation of schedules will be able to keep the alleged offenders from coming into contact with the girls, and it is the girls’ comfort, safety and education that is the priority here,” Vealitzek said.

While she acknowledged that “technology moves more quickly” than legislation or organizational policies, and that she didn’t expect the district to “always have the answers in place,” the administration and school board “have the power right now to impose consequences that resonate and hopefully prevent this from happening again.”

Board members did not respond during the meeting to Vealitzek’s comments, and the district has provided no additional statements since the early April letter. District staff directed any questions to the district’s communications director.

At the end of Thursday’s meeting, the board went into closed session. No reason was given.