17-year-old Buna ISD student arrested for Unlawful Production/ Distribution of Deep Fake Sexually Explicit Media
On April 16th, 2026, at approximately 10:15 a.m., Sheriff Chuck Havard was contacted by Buna ISD Superintendent, Dr. Julie Motomura, regarding an explicit image of a Buna ISD student that was allegedly circulating on social media. Supposedly, the image was of a student that appeared to be nude and presumably created by Artificial Intelligence (AI). JCSO investigators immediately initiated a criminal investigation and began speaking with students, staff, parents and other individuals regarding this image. Additionally, search warrants for a social media platform and Google e-mail accounts were drafted and executed.
Sheriff Chuck Havard said they have concluded that this image was artificially altered by a 17-year-old Buna student on November 25th, 2025 and posted on Snapchat. During the posting of this image on Snapchat, screenshots were secured by at-least one individual. The image only remained on Snapchat for a few minutes before it was taken down by the suspect.
Havard said in a release, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office was not notified until April 16th, 2026 that the images may contain nudity. (They were initially notified on the 13th regarding an image, but wasn’t aware the images may have contained nudity until the 16th.) When it was first reported to us, BISD advised us that they thought this image was initiated and viewed by students on the Buna High School Baseball team. Buna ISD was simply relaying what they believed at that time. Although several students on the baseball team viewed images of inappropriate pictures, none of the pictures that they viewed were criminal in nature (no pictures contained nudity). However, the pictures were inappropriate and distasteful. They did not view the sexually explicit image that’s the center of this investigation as they are separate incidents.
On April 24th, 2026, at approximately 1:45 p.m., our investigators arrived at Buna High School with sufficient evidence and probable cause to interview, 17-year-old Nathaniel Davis of Buna. During the interview, and after questioning, Davis admitted to altering the image by using AI and posting it on a “public story” on Snapchat and then removing it. Davis was escorted off of campus and brought to the Sub-Courthouse in Buna where an arrest warrant was secured. He was arrested and transported to the Jasper County Jail and charged with a Class A Misdemeanor- Unlawful Production/Distribution of Deep Fake Sexually Explicit Media. Davis is innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Buna ISD Superintendent Dr. Julie Motomura and her staff have been very cooperative during this investigation and we have no evidence to believe that this image was altered during school hours or on school property. Davis admitted to altering this image off campus. At no time did any member of BISD have knowledge of this nude photograph prior to April 16th, 2026, nor did any staff member see any nude image of any student at anytime.
This young man is extremely remorseful regarding this incident and did not understand the severity of his conduct. He exercised extremely  poor judgment and regrets his actions. However, he has to be held accountable because there is an innocent young victim in this case.
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