Emergency services were called to the scene about 7.15pm.

The owner thought the most humane thing to do would be to let the dogs continue.

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Investigations are under way into reports that explicit deepfake photos were made using the faces of female high school students in Sydney.

The ABC reported that families alerted police upon learning the digitally altered photos were circulating online, after a male student was sent one of the images and told the school.

NSW Police has confirmed officers in the Ryde area, north-west of the CBD, are investigating the report.

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"Officers attached to Ryde Police Area Command have commenced an investigation," a police spokesperson said.

"Inquiries are ongoing and there is no further information available at this time."

The Department of Education said it is working closely with police and will take action if any student is found to be behind the images.

"Deepfakes present significant new risks to the wellbeing and privacy of students," a department spokesperson said.

"The school is working closely with police on this matter.

"If any student is found to have engaged in this behaviour, the school will be taking strong disciplinary action."

Acting Education Minister Courtney Houssos said the report was "deeply concerning".

"These are deeply concerning reports, and police are investigating this matter as is appropriate. I expect those responsible to face the appropriate consequences," she said.

"I understand the school has support in place for the students affected as well as support for the broader school community.

"As this is an active police investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further."

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NSW tightens laws around deepfakes

Last month, NSW passed legislation to criminalise using artificial intelligence to create intimate images without consent.

It is now punishable by up to three years in jail.

Sharing those images, even if a person has not created them, can also land them in jail for the same amount of time.

The amendments also cracked down on the creation, recording and sharing of sexually explicit audio that is either real or designed to sound like a real person.

Attorney-General Michael Daley said the laws would better protect people, particularly young women, from image-based abuse.

"This bill closes a gap in NSW legislation that leaves women vulnerable to AI-generated sexual exploitation," he said at the time.

"We are ensuring that anyone who seeks to humiliate, intimidate or degrade someone using AI can be prosecuted."

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'Current crisis' for schools and students 

Deepfakes are digitally altered photos, videos or voice recordings of someone that have been edited to falsely depict them. 

Tools to create deepfakes can be exploited to create non-consensual and fake explicit images of a person, with women and girls the most likely targets.

The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, in June said deepfakes are a "current crisis affecting school communities across Australia".

"Students have found their image represented in fake nude photos or videos," the commissioner wrote at the time.

"Others have received AI-generated explicit content of their peers. Entire school communities have been thrown into turmoil – with families, educators, and students unsure how to respond."

Inman Grant added that deepfakes are "increasingly in use" among young people.

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.

Accused maintains he never sexually assaulted anyone, despite his previous convictions.

Police are urging locals to check their dashcam footage for "suspicious" individuals as police investigate a house fire that killed a woman and two boys in Queensland yesterday.

The fire broke out at about 5.56am yesterday at a home on Whiting Street, Toolooa, Gladstone.

Residents said they heard bangs and explosions, as well as a woman screaming for help.

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The bodies of two boys and a woman were found after firefighters extinguished the blaze.

9News understands they were Jordana Johnson, Jordan Norris and Chazz Mather.

Police have confirmed a fourth person inside managed to escape the fire and was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Detective Acting Superintendent Luke Peachey said that person had not been taken into custody and had since left hospital.

Speaking to the media today, Peachey said the three deaths were being treated as "unexplained", but that homicide detectives had been called in.

The bodies remain in the destroyed house, with a major operation to respectfully and safely remove them proceeding this afternoon.

They will then be formally identified.

"There's probably more questions than answers at the moment," Peachey said.

He confirmed a second crime scene at another house had been established and was undergoing forensic examination.

But police have established no person of interest.

Tightknit community in mourning

The Gladstone community is struggling to come to terms with the tragic loss.

"It is really heartbreaking, it's a tragedy," local mum Annie-May Platt told 9News.

"We're really close around here, all the kids know eachother."

Her young son Benjamin was close mates with both of the boys killed in the blaze.

"They were my best friends," he said.

Another local Jeff remembered Chazz as having "the cheekiest grin".

Police plea for help

Peachey urged anybody who may have been in the Whiting Street area between 5am and 6.30am yesterday to come forward if they had seen anybody behaving suspiciously in the area.

A burnt-out car next to the house, which police believe was set afire before the home, is also part of the investigation.

Gladstone mayor Matt Burnett confirmed to Today this morning that the boys had been on a sleepover.

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"There's two sisters on one side, one family, that's 21 and 17 years old, a 17-year-old who's lost her home, lost her brother, lost her mother," he said.

"You know, it's just heartbreaking."

He said the family were well-connected in the community, with the loss rippling out across the town.

Police put another home under guard in the same suburb yesterday, and confirmed that it was in connection to the fire.

The blaze is under investigation.

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