Former School District Employee Pleads Guilty to Using AI Technology to Produce Sexual Abuse Images of Children in his Care

MINNEAPOLIS - Defendant William Michael Haslach, 30, a former employee of Independent School District #622 (North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale) and ISD #834 (Stillwater), has pleaded guilty to attempted production of child pornography and production of an obscene visual representation of child sexual abuse, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.

According to court documents, defendant Haslach, of Maplewood, Minnesota, occupied several positions of trust with children. From August 2021 until January 2025, Haslach served as a lunch monitor and traffic guard for ISD #622. From 2021 through 2024, Haslach also served as a paraprofessional and later as a youth summer programs assistant for ISD #834. Haslach used his access to children to take non-explicit photos of children in his care. Haslach then used those images to produce morphed/AI photos of those minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Haslach admitted to creating obscene visual representations of at least 91 minor victims in more than 690 morphed images through AI morphing. He also admitted to surreptitiously photographing a pre-pubescent minor's genital area when she was wearing a swimsuit.

To date, there is no evidence that Mr. Haslach distributed or shared the images he created.

If you are a parent of a child that has at any point been under the care of Haslach, the U.S. Attorney's Office has set up a website to provide you with resources and further information about this case: www.justice.gov/usao-mn/haslach-child-exploitation-case-school-district-employee-0

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the United States Secret Service, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Maplewood Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Mattessich is prosecuting the case.