Overview
- Two families filed a civil lawsuit against Stillwater Area Public Schools, alleging the district failed to protect students from a former employee who allegedly used AI to generate child sexual abuse material.
- Federal prosecutors allege William Haslach took non-explicit photos of students and used those images to produce morphed, sexually explicit depictions, while also possessing and receiving other child pornography.
- Haslach’s federal case in Minnesota remains pending and he has pleaded not guilty, after state charges were dismissed due to the federal indictment.
- The district says it now bars staff from using personal phones while with students, allows photos only with supervisor approval on district-owned devices, bans student phone use during the school day, and has added mandatory sexual exploitation training for staff.
- Attorney Imran Ali, representing the families, seeks damages and statewide policy changes governing staff personal device use and rules for photographing students, citing gaps in training and safeguards.