Teens who take nude selfie photos could face adult sex charges for exploiting themselves
Arrest made: Theย teen sexter was charged with two felony sex crimes against herselfOne 16-year-old girl was charged with exploitation and faced a lifetime on a sex offenders register
Teenagers who are ‘sexting’ each other with intimate selfies may be liable to face adult sex charges.
The legal precedent has been set in the US following the case of a 16-year-old girl.
The teen in question, from Fayetteville, North Carolina, US, sent a nude photograph of herself via text to her boyfriend, who was also 16 at the time.
She was charged with two felony sex crimes against herself – listed as both the underage victim and the adult perpetrator of the crime of sexual exploitation of a minor.
The charges were second-degree exploitation for taking the image and third-degree exploitation for having the photo in her possession.
Although a conviction would mean life on the sex offenders register and jail time, she has negotiated a plea bargain which should see her record cleared next year, according to the Fayetteville Observer.
The plea included admitting to ‘disseminating harmful material to minors’.
Modern mobiles: The trend for selfies means teens are sending more intimate shots than eve to each other.
Her punishment was to pay $100ย in court costs, take a class on decision-making, not to use illegal drugs or alcohol, not possess a cellular phone for the duration of her probation and to do 30 hours of community service.
Her boyfriend’s case is still pending.
Psychologist Jeff Temple of the University of Texas Medical Branch has been researching the ramifications of criminalising teens for sexting selfies.
He said of applying the same measures across the country: “You’re talking about millions of kids being charged with child pornography.”
Temple’s studies found that 28% of teens were using mobiles to send naked pictures to others.
Psychologist Michelle Drouin of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne has also studied sexting.
She said: “It’s becoming a way that people are initiating sexual contact with one another.
“One thing I definitely would say is that sexting has become so intertwined with budding sexuality that I think these are exactly the people who are going to be sending these pictures”
Although the images being sent were illegal, sexual intercourse between the teens was not.
Girls, be warned … all these kind of images are criminal from now on … Well, at least in certain places: –