A pupil at a top private boys’ school has been accused of using digitally manipulated photos of a 15-year-old female and linking them to a pornographic video, which he used to try to blackmail her into sending him explicit photos of herself.

The Sunday Times reports that the parents of the victim have laid criminal charges against the grade 11 Kearsney College pupil.

The incident has highlighted how AI and technology is being used to exploit teens. 

In an act of ‘sexploitation’, the Kearsney pupil allegedly threatened to widely share the video if the victim did not comply with his demands.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, the mother said her daughter was in therapy, unable to sleep and believed that ‘her life was ruined’.

The suspect denied it was him and claimed his phone had been hacked. The girl’s family were then told by Kearsney headmaster Patrick Lees that the school could therefore take no further action against him. However, the mother claims an internal school IT investigation showed no evidence of the boy’s phone being hacked.

‘We wanted accountability and consequences from the school,’ she said. 

‘We had no intention of gunning for him. But we felt we had no choice but to lay the criminal complaint. I have now heard of other similar cases from mothers in my friendship groups. Our girls are not safe. These hostels are breeding monsters,’ she said.

The school’s marketing director, Rob Carpenter, told the Sunday Times that a forensic investigation was under way and ‘appropriate action would be taken in line with our disciplinary code’.

Attorney Unathi Dlamini, a social media legal expert, said this kind of behaviour was prevalent in the ‘general’ schooling environment, and ‘definitely constitutes a criminal act and can lead to criminal prosecution’.

Minors are treated differently in this situation, she said.

‘If the conduct takes place while the child is on school premises the school is in loco parentis and is the de facto guardian of the learner,’ Dlamini said. ‘This becomes important to note if there is civil liability on the cards, as schools cannot escape this liability. And further complications can arise for the school if it is established that the ‘perpetrator’ used the school Wi-Fi. This is why it is crucial for schools to have policies regulating the use of their IT systems.’

The mother provided the Sunday Times with SMS proof that a case has been lodged with the SAPS in Pinetown and that it has been referred to a senior public prosecutor for a decision.

Full Sunday Times report