NC Christian School Teacher Charged with Creating Porn Using AI and Students’ Faces
DHS explains types of technology, gives advice for protecting children.
A former teacher at Vandalia Christian School in Greensboro, N.C., allegedly used AI technology to paste the faces of some students onto sexually explicit images, crimes for which he could face over 100 years in prison.
Vandalia Christian School via Google Maps / Insert of Richard Upright via Guilford County Sheriff’s Department
This is part of a growing pattern of “morphed” or fake pornographic images being created by the use of artificial intelligence.
Richard Lynn Upright, 56, was arrested in February and is facing 10 felony counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, according to WFMY News 2.
The former sixth grade teacher allegedly used artificial intelligence and photo editing software to manipulate images of students into pornography. He was fired from his position at the school.
The investigation into Upright began in December, according to law enforcement, after Google alerted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a Google Drive account linked to Upright.
Investigators discovered at least 111 images and have confirmed through a subpoena that the IP address associated with the activity was linked to Upright’s home, which is located less than one mile from Vandalia Christian School.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant at the school in February and discovered that “the faces of many of these cyber tips … were actually photoshop photographs with his students’ heads on the images of child pornography,” a detective with Guildford County Sheriff’s Office told Fox 8.
It is not clear at this time how many victims are involved.
A father of two of the victims remarked about how hard this has been on his daughters.
“My current daughter was his student this year, and, as a father, not being able to protect my child from that and then to see this, it’s a trial on my family,” he told Fox 8. “She’s going back to school today…I had to be there for her at lunch time to make sure that she was OK walking from class to lunch. My wife had to go down there this morning to make sure she got into class OK and that she was alright.”
If found guilty on all charges, Upright could face up to 113 years in prison.
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an advisory about protecting children against predators who use artificial intelligence to create “morphed or fake” child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
According to DHS, morphed CSAM is illegal and is “emotionally and psychologically harmful and deeply traumatic.”
It advises parents to understand the latest technologies in order to better understand the risks.
Artificial intelligence technology can be used to create or modify images to make them sexually explicit based on a user prompt.
Deep fake technology goes further to create “realistic images or videos” that make it appear children did or said things they never actually did.
Nudifying services, according to DHS, allow a person to upload a normal image of someone, then the technology creates a depiction of the person unclothed.
Fake AI CSAM has been a growing problem. Reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children exploded between 2023 and 2024 — increasing from 4,700 to 67,000.
“Creating, sharing or even possessing this type of content on a device is illegal and can have life-long consequences. Both adults and minors can be held accountable when they commit crimes online,” DHS warns.
“In addition to possible federal criminal violations, many states have specific criminal statutes regarding sextortion and online harassment of a minor that may have a range of legal ramifications such as a verbal warning from a juvenile or family court judge, court ordered community service or counseling, to more serious consequences including incarceration.”
To avoid this type of exploitation of children, DHS recommends setting all social media profiles to private and using parental controls on children’s accounts.
It also recommends “maintain[ing] open lines of communication with children about their online activities and [e]ncouraging them to come to you with any concerns or questions they may have about AI, deepfakes and online safety.”
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