"Experts say there has been a growing problem in recent years of teenagers “sexting,” sending explicit pictures of themselves and others via text. For example, a girl might send a naked picture of herself to a boy, who then distributes it to his friends.
But criminal law was not written to address inappropriate behavior by teens. Current law considers this distribution of child pornography, a felony sex crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors have said they would like a way to address problematic behavior without forcing a teenager to register as a sex offender.
Rep. Jeffrey Roy, a Franklin Democrat who sponsored in earlier version of the sexting bill, said this came up in Franklin when explicit images were circulated among around 60 high school students. “The police got involved, and under current law the police have only two options when teenagers are distributing these materials. The first option is to do nothing, and the second option is to charge them with felony possession of child pornography,” Roy said. In the end, nobody got charged. “There was frustration on the part of the police saying we want to do something, but we don’t want to charge them with a felony,” Roy said. "
 |
| CommonWealth Magazine: "House will vote on sexting, revenge porn bill" |
No comments:
Post a Comment