Sexting Felonies

[Nicki Laycoax]

You've heard about it on the news, you know what it is...

I'm curious where you stand on the teens being listed in the Sex Offender Registry and possibly being charged with a felony for child pornography if caught.

[Jake Roesler]

Nicki,
You had to know I was going to chime in here. For those interested, have a listen to Indiana Youth Institute's recent radio show on the topic. (mp3) Some experts are interviewed.

My personal opinion - No. Kids are idiots when it comes to nudity, sex and pranks. Only repeat or grievous offenders should be punished with a mark that will follow them for life.

(i bet that sparks some more conversation) :)

[Nicki Laycoax]

I was hoping you'd chime in, Jake. Thank you!

[Anita LeBeau Griggs]

I agree with you, Jake. I do think that the kids caught participating in this should get a bit more than a slap on the wrist as punishment, but not something as permanent as being listed as a sex offender (unless, of course, they are repeat or grievous offenders). Perhaps they should be required to perform X number of hours of community service in a less than glamorous activity.....just to make the point that sexting is wrong.

[Angela Halloran]

I agree Anita,

They should be something done if caught but to put a mark on the kids record of ever is crazy, if the child is a repeat offender than maybe.

As parents we need to explain what is going on what could happen to them. I think we are two quick to jump the gun on things.

There will be alot of good kids that will have to explain a stupid mistake for the rest of their lives and it will hurt them in more ways than they will even realize.

[Noah Coffey]

I think a big problem with the sex offender registry (in this case) is that there are no levels to it. A kid could receive a "sext" message who did not want it in the first place, get caught with it, and get put on the sex offender registry along with serial rapists. Something seems wrong with that.

[Kyle Capron]

This is a delicate issue and needs to be reviewed on a case to case basis. Girl friend texts nudiepix to boy friend on a dare(stupid yes,crimenal maybe, felony no way) Boy friend or now ex-boy friend, gets mad sends mass e-mail to everyone he knows,creates web page with photos, prints them and post them in locks etc. Now we are talking a serious crime. If someone takes photos with out permission on someone else (locker room, bathroom,sleep over) and them sends them out most definatly a crime, someones privacy was violated. Sex offender listing probably not, class d felony maybe. There is a definatly a place for the sex offender registry, but stupid dares and indiscrestions should not follow someone on record for ever. Experiance is a cruel mistress, and the pain and embaressment of a bad decission can follow someone just as long.

Kyle Capron

[Johnnie Firari]

criminal maybe, felony no way - If you send a photo to someone by email, the person receiving the email is free to do as they please with the photo. The only thing that can protect this is adding a disclaimer in an email. My guess the Law is, this is the same for any information sent by the phone. Anything sent to you without any type of disclaimer becomes your property and grants you permission to do as you please with the info. However with this said you cannot sell the photo of anyone without a signed model release. It’s illegal under federal and state child-porn laws to create explicit images of a minor, posses them or distribute them.
This is a problem in many places and is not a new problem. I think this is more of an educational issue that has not been addressed. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse but it is up to parents to educate kids of the law. The law does need to implement fair and just criminal charges based on minors that create explicit images of a minor, posses them or distribute them. Education is key!

[Frank Schumacher]

Whatever happened to common sense? Zero-tolerance policies are for lazy administrators, cowards and morons. What these idiot administrators or prosecutors should do is call in the participants and parents, tell them how stupid the action is, and then let the parents disable photos and texting if they don't want this to happen again. This isn't a crime. The adolescent brain is not fully developed, they do stupid things. The punishment comes in the form of embarrassment when a photo is forwarded to others. In the ninety's they passed around polaroids (remember those cheap little cameras that created 1.5x1.5 inch photos). Technology advances and kids are not wired to connect future consequences to current actions.

[Anita LeBeau Griggs]

Frank, I'm worried that common sense has died a painful death -- at least when it comes to a huge chunk of our society. I agree with what you're saying, but I want to share a sexting story that made the news in the Dayton area.

There was a 6th grade girl caught at school with a photo of male genitals on her phone (I don't believe she was forwarding it to anyone, but nonetheless it was found on her phone). It was a text she had receive from (of all people) her MOTHER! Apparently, mom had received the photo message from her boyfriend (who was the subject of the photo) and decided to forward it on to a bunch of people. When mom forwarded she "accidentally" included her daughter in the forward list. Now, the school officials & law enforcement did not hold the daughter responsible (at least they exercised common sense). Unfortunately, I'm not certain we as a society can count on the parents having any common sense anymore......and I don't know that we can necessarily count on parents to do what should be the right thing.....sad situation.

[Douglas Karr]

If my friends had camera phones when I was a kid, I'd probably be serving a 200 year prison sentence for mooning.

[Kirk Booher]

mooning is one thing, child / teen nudity another, adult possessing child nudity a third...this third being the worst and it should be a crime and on the pervert list (if you have kids I am sure you understand and if you have kids and dont care...I pity them)...perhaps the 2nd, if found in the school, perhaps loss of the phone on the first offense, suspension the 2nd, so forth...but not on a sex offender list..the 1st...mooning...punishment enough

[Brett Davis]

The problem with Sex Offenders are there are 4 kinds:

1. The sicko that molests a child.
2. The adult that has sex with a teenager. (This is a slight step below number 1. Typically the adult has issues and the teenager is too imature to realize it is a mistake.)
3. The 18 year old high schooler that has sex with their 16 year bf/gf. This shouldn't be a crime at all. More than likely, a few months ago it was a 17 year old and a 16 year old hooking up.
4. A guy that takes a leak outside and other misc. things.

Depending on the situation, sexting could fall into a number 4 or a number 2 category. If an adult purposely sends a dirty picture to a teenager it should be a serious crime. If the sexting is between 2 teens and it is consensual it shouldn't be a crime.

I would like to see us as a society, come up with a better way to describe Sex Offenders.

BTW, as for number 1s, I agree 110% with Samuel L. Jackson in this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMGMZsKXz94&feature=PlayList&...