Gov. Josh Shapiro on Thursday signed into law a bill requiring anyone caring for children to alert child protective services of hazing and artificially generated sexual abuse material, even when created by a minor.
Introduced in the state House by Manheim Township Democratic Rep. Nikki Rivera, the bill was inspired by a criminal case involving two former Lancaster Country Day School students who used AI software to create nude images of 60 students. The bill cleared the General Assembly on Wednesday.
“What we as educators want to do is our very best for our students and this bill makes it crystal clear the (child protective services) reporting has to be done, even if it’s child-on-child incidents,” Rivera said. “This law says to everybody, all educators, healthcare, athletics, to everybody involved with kids, if there’s something going on, report it immediately so the investigation can start.”
State Sen. James Malone, an East Petersburg Democrat, consulted with girls whose images were manipulated and began drafting a bill in the Senate, then suggested Rivera draft its companion bill in the House.
“I’m very impressed by the courage of the victims that came forward about this and I think now they’ve created a future where these things will be addressed a whole lot faster, and we can reduce revictimization,” Rivera said.
The two students police said were involved in creating more than 300 images of teenage girls and one nude image of an 18-year-old woman were adjudicated as juveniles in criminal court in March after admitting to 59 felony counts of abuse of children.
A gap in the mandatory reporting law, however, prevented Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams from filing charges against any administrators at the Manheim Township private school.
Despite the district receiving an anonymous tip that a student was using AI to undress photos of their classmates in November 2023, police were not notified until parents were made aware of the situation 11 months later.
When both the victim and perpetrator are minors, mandatory reporting law requires mandated reporters, such as teachers and administrators, to alert child protective services only when the perpetrator has committed one or more crimes outlined in the statute, including rape, sexual assault, indecent assault or indecent exposure — not the dissemination of artificially generated sexual abuse material.
Adams urged lawmakers to amend mandatory reporting law following the Country Day incident.
In voting for the bill Wednesday, Martic Township Republican Sen. Scott Martin, who also chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, thanked the girls who helped Malone and Rivera draft legislation for their bravery in ensuring others are not victimized by similar crimes in the future.
“With today’s vote, we take the next step in protecting our young people against the serious threats posed by child sexual abuse materials generated by AI and finally giving peace of mind to the victims and their families who stepped forward courageously to protect others,” Martin said.
Martin worked with Republican Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, who represents parts of Berks and Montgomery counties, on the companion bill in the Senate, which included aspects of Malone’s draft.
In recent years, legislators have worked to build up more law around AI interactions, making it illegal to create or disseminate artificially generated sexual abuse material, banning nudification apps from being made in Pennsylvania and preventing harmful interactions with AI chatbots.
Hazing
The bill was amended by Democratic State Sen. Art Haywood, representing part of Montgomery County and Philadelphia, in its final hours to require mandatory reporters to alert child protective services of suspected hazing as well.
Hazing, another missing piece in mandatory reporting law, has become a focus in Lancaster County in recent months, as police and the district attorney investigated an incident of student misconduct at Manheim Central High School.
Two students targeted their Black peers at Manheim Central in April, charging them money — calling it a “Black tax” — to access the locker room, and when one student would not pay, they wrapped him with an extension cord, hitting him with elastic exercise bands.
Both students were minors at the time and were not named when Adams announced Oct. 9 that both would face charges for the alleged abuse, which according to the 16-year-old victim, they committed three times a week for a month.
A third student, Nathan Haldeman, is also charged alongside the other two for allegedly holding down the 16-year-old in a locker room bathroom stall and spraying him with an unknown aerosol substance, calling it a “gas chamber.”
Manheim Central teacher Jared Shearer was charged for failing to report the alleged behavior.
In another case, where Manheim Township School District failed to report an April 2024 incident involving a high school lacrosse player who allegedly exposed himself to a teammate while another teammate held him down, charges were not filed.
Adams said the district did not willfully fail to report the incident but was following the advice of its solicitor at the time, which did not include notifying child protective services.
After announcing the conclusion of both investigations Oct. 9, Adams called on legislators to classify hazing as a reportable form of child abuse as it “causes real harm to its victims.”
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