With the popularity of shows like Gossip Girl and 90210 among teens, the practice of sexting will spread. Sexting involves sending provocative, sexually explicit, and typically nude photos to another person via cell phone text. There is a clash when it comes to teenage sexting. Considering the photos are of minors, those sending, possessing, and distributing can fall under child pornography laws. Child pornography laws that are designed to protect children from being exploited sexually are now being used to punish those same children for their youthful indiscretions. The consequences of a felony conviction for possession and distribution child pornography include a requirement to register as a sex offender. The law makers of states around the country are now scrambling to create laws that will balance out the desire to protect children from being sexually exploited and the desire to protect children from life changing consequences from the mistakes of youth.
State courts and prosecutors that have faced the dilemma of how to handle a teenage sexting situation have widely differed in their choices. In Florida, Phillip Alpert, 18, was charged and convicted with sending child pornography. He was sentenced to 5 years probation and required to register as a sex offender. 'Sexting' lands teen on sex offender list - CNN.com, Sexting laws a wake up call for all - Collegenews. Alpert sent photos of his ex-girlfriend to numerous people, including her family and school mates, as an act of revenge for their break-up. While not condoning what he did, the question remains, does the punishment fit the crime. A 14 year old girl was arrested and charged with child pornography after posting photos of herself on a social network. The crime, if convicted, carries a sentence of up to 17 years in prison and required registration as a sex offender. http://www.netlingo.com/more/Girl_arrested.pdf. A judge in Pennsylvania issued a restraining order against state prosecutors from pursuing child pornography charges against three teenage girls who took photos of themselves at a slumber party.US judge rules for teen girls in sexting case | Reuters. While Ohio prosecutors have chosen a middle ground when it comes to charges against teenagers for sexting. Two teenage boys were convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for sexting nude photos on the cell phones. Mason teens sentenced for 'sexting' | Cincinnati.com | The Cincinnati Enquirer
The issue received widespread main stream media attention in March of 2009 when an Ohio girl committed suicide after nude photos that she sent to her boyfriend were distributed to hundreds of students in her high school. The teen was teased and harassed by those students before ultimately committing suicide. Nude photo led to suicide | Cincinnati.com | The Cincinnati Enquirer. At the urging of her parents and other concerned citizens, the Ohio legislature began working to create new laws for sexting. Ohio has proposed a law that would make it a misdemeanor for any minor involved in sexting, removing the chance of a felony child pornography charge.'Sexting' bill introduced in Senate | Cincinnati.com | The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Vermont legislature passed a law that decriminalized sexting for teenagers. Vermont Teen Gets 3 Months For 'Sexting' - ABC News, Vermont Teen Going to the Slammer for 'Sexting'. The law creates an exception for teenagers between the ages of 13- 18 from felony child pornography charges with the sexting is consensual. This, however, do not prevent other charges from being brought against teens who engage in sexting. In early September, a Vermont teen was sentence to 90 days in prison for committing a prohibited act, a lewd and lascivious conduct in the state’s first sexting case. He was facing charges of sexual assault but the district attorney dropped those charges when the new law was enacted. Vt. teen sentenced to prison in 'sexting' case.
Illinois has also proposed new laws to cover sexting, however, it chose to head in the opposite direction. The Illinois legislature has proposed law to specifically make sexting a crime when it is done without the written consent of the parties involved or has been done with intent to harm a person’s reputation. Currently, Illinois law enforcement treats sexting under child pornography laws and consequences that come with those laws. The new proposed law focuses on community service and education for teens who engage in sexting. Fail: Illinois cracks down on sexting, applies law to all nude images, LiveLeak.com - IL - Teens say ‘sexting’ is going on all over - And they don’t think legislation will make a difference.
There have been many cries for a national law regulating sexting. The answer to the sexting issue is not clear. Even in states like Vermont, who chose to decriminalize sexting for teenagers, it does not mean that there cannot be charges brought for sexting. I understand the purpose behind child pornography laws, but I’m not convinced that teen sexting should fall into that category. Before this technology, there were teens exploring their sexuality through photos and Polaroid’s, so it is not a new concept. Parents were able to quietly handle these situations and mass distribution was a readily available option. But the technology is not going away and neither is teenage sexual exploration. The law needs to catch up with the technology. One thing is clear; the sexting trend is not going away. As said in the beginning, the popularity of shows like Gossip Girl, which focuses on teen communication of sex scandals through text and internet, and 90210, whose new season started with a teenage girl sending photos of her fri-enemy to the whole school , will lead to a spread in the popularity of teen sexting.
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