NEVADA, Iowa (KCCI) – An investigation is underway after explicit photographs of high school students, generated by artificial intelligence, circulated in an Iowa school district. Parents of the victims fear those who are responsible won’t be punished.

Chad Borwick’s child is one of the Nevada High School students whose image was altered to make them appear naked in photographs that were posted to social media.

“It spread like wildfire. It spread through our high school, our middle school, and you know the kids have probably spread it to other school districts, to other friends. It’s probably going to spread around all those,” Borwick said.

Ida Nady’s child is among the victims, as well.

“You don’t want things to happen to your kids. You want them to have better,” Nady said.

The Story County Sheriff’s Office is investigating, but parents like Borwick and Nady are worried no one will be held accountable. They say investigators told them there was probably little they could do, as the Iowa criminal code is not yet clear on the laws surrounding creating and distributing explicit AI-generated photos.

“Our daughters are being victimized, and it doesn’t seem like there’s anything we can do about it,” Borwick said.

“They’re going to feel like they don’t matter, their voice doesn’t matter,” Nady said.

State Sen. Chris Cournoyer, R-LeClaire, led a bill through the Iowa Senate this session that was signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds just last week. The bill makes it a felony to create media of minors or their likeness engaged in a sexual act or in full or partial nudity. It doesn’t go into effect until July 1.

“While the images may be fake, the effects they have on people are very real,” Cournoyer said.

She says the situation at Nevada High is exactly what she hopes this bill prevents in the future.

“We tried to put some real teeth into this law, and I think that will be a big difference, knowing that there are some pretty dire consequences if you do these types of things to people in the state of Iowa,” Cournoyer said.

The school district says it’s turned over the investigation to law enforcement and won’t issue any disciplinary actions until it is complete.

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