Families look to sue Stillwater schools after staffer charged with AI-generated child porn

The Stillwater school district was put on notice this week of an impending lawsuit following a former employee being charged with manipulating photos of children into sexually explicit images.

William Haslach, 30, is facing federal criminal charges of possessing child pornography and using AI to produce child sexual abuse imagery with photos he took of children at North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale and Stillwater school districts. Haslach worked at the schools as a recess and traffic monitor.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has identified 100 children victimized in the case. In Stillwater, Haslach worked for Adventure Club, a before- and after-school care program.

Attorney Imran Ali announced Wednesday he is representing two families in the Stillwater school district who plan to sue the district for “failing to protect children” from Haslach.

“We rely on the schools to make sure that all of our children are protected,” he said. “And when that trust is broken, there has to be some accountability and there has to be some change.”

The lawsuit has not been filed, but Ali said it is only a matter of time until it is.

Stillwater Superintendent Mike Funk said in a statement that the safety of students is the district’s top priority.

AI-generated images depicting child sexual abuse is a growing issue. Criminal cases involving generated images are increasing in Minnesota and across the U.S.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 6,800 reports flagging child pornography created by generative AI in the first half of 2024. In the first six months of 2025, it jumped to more than 440,000 reports.

Children are also participating in the creation of explicit images of other children. An eighth-grade student in Louisiana was charged in September with using AI to create and share explicit photos of their peers.

These computer-generated depictions are illegal under 2003’s federal PROTECT Act.

States have also started to legislate against AI-generated child pornography. Minnesota expanded its definition of child sexual abuse materials to include generated images in August.

“It’s quite unique, using AI,” Ali said. “But it is so terribly dangerous and if you look at some of the apps and the software that are out there ... you’ll be left speechless.”

Funk said Stillwater’s district policy is “the most stringent personal device policy in Minnesota,” banning students from using phones or other electronics during school for every grade level. The district has also added mandatory sexual exploitation training for all district staff.

Ali said he is investigating the “systematic failure” by the school district and has found training and policy gaps when it comes to protecting students. He said parents received an email about the school district altering its policies following the federal charges, but he does not know the details of the changed policy.

“We know that there was a change that existed from when Mr. Haslach was preying on these children,” Ali said, “and we know that there is a change post when the communication went out to the families.”