Apparently New Jersey authorities have arrested a 14 year old girl on charges of possession and distribution of child pornograghy for posting pictures of herself nude on Myspace. Seriously what is next? If she looks at herself in the mirror while naked she is guilty of child endangerment? Masterbation is now rape of a minor?
As a father of an already stubborn and independent two and half year old girl I shutter to think about her teenage years will bring, but there has to be a better way to curb “sexting” than arresting a teenager for possesion of nude pictures of themself. I wonder if they will make her register as a sex offender.
I asked the flip side of this on another thread. If a 18 year old can go to jail for looking at these pictures, why is it wrong to prosecute the poster and taker of pictures?
Again I’m not saying either is right but if an individual can willfully post pornography of themselves that that should also be taken into consideration on the viewers end.
I think the last thread was about a confiscated cell phone that a teacher found pron pics on. Had an adult gotten hold of those pictures 2nd hand they could very well have been prosecuted for child porn. Same thing here.
It’s one thing to traffic in pornography of an unknowing minor or thru coercion, it’s another entirely viewing pics that were given to you by a willing participant. I’m not sure the law makes any differentiation on the part of the adult.
This is going to be huge in the coming years. A woman was on Fox News or CNN yesterday to talk about how her daughter had taken naked pictures, sent them to her boyfriend, then when they broke up, he posted them online and spread them around school, which resulted in the girl comitting suicide. In the course of the interview, they offered statistics that something like 30% of teenagers polled had sent sexually suggestive texts or e-mails, and nearly 20% of those polled had posted or sent sexually suggestive pictures.
Having a teenage daughter, I would say those numbers are WAY low.
The number that send “Sexually suggestive texts” is probably close to 100%. I’ve spent good deal of time “Monitoring” these things and the numbers are WAY up there. Could be my daughter is just in the wrong crowd
Sending nekid’ pics seems to be pretty common as well and starts pretty young. By 15-16 seems to be “No big deal”.
I don’t know, something just doesn’t sit right with me arresting someone for taking or possessing pictures of themself, regardless of age.
I think in your case, if an adult picks up a lost phone that has these pictures on it the legal system would make an allowance for this person possesing these pictures provided they didn’t find them and start diseminating them. I mean if the adult in this case could be arrested for possession I guess I should tell my wife to take the pictures of us giving our daughter her first bath down off our Shutterfly site, lest I be charged with disemination.
I don’t know, something just doesn’t sit right with me arresting someone for taking or possessing pictures of themself, regardless of age.
Me neither, but something doesn’t sit right with me that if they take those pictures at 16 and give them to a 30 year old that the 30 year old goes to jail. Even worse a 15 and an 18 year old.
I think in your case, if an adult picks up a lost phone that has these pictures on it the legal system would make an allowance for this person possesing these pictures provided they didn’t find them and start diseminating them.
No there was no danger to the teacher. What I’m saying is that if these pictures were sent to person, then that person sends to another who happens to be 20. That person could be charged with possessing those pictures.
**I mean if the adult in this case could be arrested for possession I guess I should tell my wife to take the pictures of us giving our daughter her first bath down off our Shutterfly site, lest I be charged with disemination. **
Weirder things have happened. We had a local case many years ago that was almost exactly that. The “Locals” had a hard on for an doctor that performed abortions. This doctor tried to get pictures of his young child developed. They refused and turned him into the cops. Made the paper but I’m not sure if any charges were ever leveled.
**Apparently New Jersey authorities have arrested a 14 year old girl on charges of possession and distribution of child pornograghy for posting pictures of herself nude on Myspace. **
Isn’t myspace like facebook, whereas one needs to be 18 or older to join? Either way, distributing photos of a nude minor is a crime; it’s the parents’ responsibility to educate their children about these things, especially when they’re providing them with the tools to commit the crime.
Seriously what is next? If she looks at herself in the mirror while naked she is guilty of child endangerment? Masterbation is now rape of a minor?
Posting an illegal photo to a public website, and looking in a mirror, or touching one’s self in private, are entirely different things.
They are but does anyone really want their tax dollars being spent arresting this girl?
Any sane person (these are rare, these sane people) would just call the parents and tell them their daughter is being a bit too slutty and to take the picture down.
Not drive a cop car over and throw a dumb girl in jail.
Posting an illegal photo to a public website, and looking in a mirror, or touching one’s self in private, are entirely different things.
I probably wouldn’t support it if it were my daughter being hauled off & dragged through the mud in the media, but it does take a high-profile case to get most people’s attention. And as noted earlier, it’s a growing problem.
Do you think it’s appropriate not to charge a juvenile (as a juvenile) with something, for committing this, or any other, crime? Consider the net effect: hundreds of thousands of nude images of teenage girls flood the public datasphere and land on the desktops of adults around the world. It’s a problem that needs immediate intervention.
As to the specific charge and the punishment it may carry, that’s another story. But if she was caught doing it, she should be charged appropriately.
Me neither, but something doesn’t sit right with me that if they take those pictures at 16 and give them to a 30 year old that the 30 year old goes to jail. Even worse a 15 and an 18 year old.
The 30 year old is expected to exercise better judgment than a teenager. If they have sex, the 30 year old goes to jail even if the 16 year old was the aggressor. It’s always tough for 18-21 year olds to know when they’re getting too involved with the high school kids.
The 30 year old is expected to exercise better judgment than a teenager. If they have sex, the 30 year old goes to jail even if the 16 year old was the aggressor.
I would agree with the “Better judgement” as far as sexual activity. But what is “Better judgement” when it comes to looking at a picture? There is no “Additional damage” potential from looking at the picture, in fact there is no way for the person who originally took the picture to even know if someone is looking at the picture.
I understand the argument of “We are prosecuting to destroy the market for such pictures” and in the case of “unwilling” participants of taking the pictures I would agree. In this case however the “minor” is a willing participant and initiator, so prosecuting the “Viewer” does little to nothing to destroy the market.
I’m not sure what the “Sentence” is for viewing “Minority pornography” but I believe it may carry potential jail time as well. In essence a 30 year old viewing a picture of a 14 year old is in danger of the same sentence as actually having sex with her.
Again that could be wrong as I’m not familiar with the “Child porn” laws as they or how they deal with a situation like this. However it is my understanding that that is the case.
