16 yr old girl takes naked selfies and gets charged with child pornography!

[Oldgamer]

So this 16 yr old girl took some "naked selfies" of herself and posted them to her twitter account. Stupid sure.. but charge her with a major felony and label her as a sex offender? That is stupid of major proportions. The prosecutors have lost all common sense.

By the way in Texas the legal age for a teenage to have sex is 17 and in many other states it is 16. So would they get charges if they are in a state where it is legal for them to have sex, and they are sexting with their sex partner?
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Link to news article


JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. (CBSDC) – A local teenager is facing child pornography charges after police say she shared nude photographs of herself on the social networking site Twitter.
According to WAVY, the unnamed 16-year-old suspect took “selfies” in which she was not wearing clothing, then shared them online at the end of last month.

Officials with the James City County Police Department told the station that teenagers sometimes fail to grasp the severity of the situation when publicly sharing private materials.

“It’s not just friends that see what they post but also strangers and everyone else out there,” Stephanie Williams-Ortery, a representative of the department, told WAVY. “You have no idea who’s out there watching. You never know who’s going to see what you post.”
A school resource officer was informed of the then-publicly available photographs’ lewd nature, and talked with both the teen and her mother about the situation.

Authorities then confiscated her phone and charged her with one count of distribution of child pornography.

The matter could become a criminal one with the potential of jail time, though experts who spoke with WAVY said that she will likely have to complete a Sexting Education program.

Officials hope a lesson has been learned by the teenager — and by others around her age — either way.

“I would hope that they would not then forward it on to their friends because then they become guilty also of distribution of child pornography, whether they know that or not,” Williams-Ortery was quoted as saying.

 

[Doppel]

It's SOMEWHAT tricky here because by what she did she could in fact be encouraging somebody else unknowingly to consume child porn. However, it sounds a lot like charging a 15 year old for sexual abuse of a minor for masturbating.

 

[Geosurface]

There is no possible justification for her being charged with anything.

The worst that should have happened to her was her twitter account being closed.

 

[mikeymikec]

However, it sounds a lot like charging a 15 year old for sexual abuse of a minor for masturbating.

It's just a matter of time

 

[1prophet]

The purpose of child pornography laws is to go after predators not children,

with the hundreds of millions of easily available camera/phones today this is going to become epidemic and you have just about as much of a chance if not less at stopping this as stopping premarital sex by charging minors for underage sex.

 

[smakme7757]

The purpose of child pornography laws is to go after predators not children

My thought exactly. The laws are to protect the children. It makes no sense, but the legal system world wide is starting to make no sense at all after the internet came.

Lawyers cashing in on old poorly formulated laws for the modern age.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Kind if reminds me of one of the first internet oddities, woman (adult) sold naked pictures of herself when she was underage. Convicted of peddling child porn and she seemed to be unaware that pedophiles were buying it. I think she thought they were art students or something.

 

[Oldgamer]

In Texas a girl only has to be 17 years of age to legally strip dance in a topless bar. So does that make it child pornography then? When I think of child pornography I think of kids that are under the age of 14 yrs of age.

 

[boomerang]

In Texas a girl only has to be 17 years of age to legally strip dance in a topless bar. So does that make it child pornography then? When I think of child pornography I think of kids that are under the age of 14 yrs of age.

Can you understand that laws may and often do vary state to state?

 

[Pray To Jesus]

In Texas a girl only has to be 17 years of age to legally strip dance in a topless bar.

:biggrin: Oldgamer is a pro.

 

[Texashiker]

New technology is going to change how society looks at nudity.

Nudity is not porn.

Nudity is a form of self expression.

Child porn laws were put in place to stop children from being exploited. There is no exploitation in self expression.

 

[Jaskalas]

There is no exploitation in self expression.

Prosecutors find plenty of victims to exploit.

This teenage girl for example.

 

[Sonikku]

With any luck she'll have a conviction on her record and made to register as a sex offender so she'll never be able to land a job for life.

 

[Newbian]

In Texas a girl only has to be 17 years of age to legally strip dance in a topless bar. So does that make it child pornography then? When I think of child pornography I think of kids that are under the age of 14 yrs of age.

If you take pictures and post them online it does.

So best not to start uploading them to your dropbox account.

 

[Genx87]

I guess we are going to label her a sex predator and toss her in jail for her own good.

 

[stormkroe]

I wonder why twitter hasn't been sued under the same thinking that gets torrent sites sued?

 

[theeedude]

If there is no victim, it shouldn't be a crime.

 

[Moonbeam]

pics

 

[Newbian]

pics

 

[dank69]

pics

This thread is worthless without them

 

[piasabird]

This isn't much different than SI swimsuit models or a website made by penthouse. And the hundreds of thousands of porno websites out on the internet . . . .

 

[Zorba]

I never understood how is Oklahoma I could screw any 16 year-old I wanted, but if I took a picture of her tit I would be sent to jail.

I think Kiddy porn age should be dropped to 16, assuming the pictures were taken with consent, for a huge number of reasons. (Although, I do think 18 should be age for paid porn) Largest being, how are you really supposed to know the picture you just downloaded is of a girl that is 17.5 instead of 18. But if the cops do know that, you just got busted for "kiddy porn."

 

[SheHateMe]

This isn't much different than SI swimsuit models or a website made by penthouse. And the hundreds of thousands of porno websites out on the internet . . . .

Except none of those people are 16 years old, are they?

 

[Oldgamer]

You all realize that there are many 16 year olds out there that look like they are 20. I find it hard to believe that someone who looks at this girls pictures on the internet who did not know her, or who she was, would go to jail for looking at her nude pics not even being aware of her age. She may have a body that looks like an adult. There is no victim in this case with this girl. She is not some 6 year old being exploited. She wanted to share her pictures online and there are tons of teenagers who are out there right now experimenting with their camera phones and having sex. This prosecutor is way over the top with the whole "lets charge her with child pornography". She should have never been charged in the first place. I think the best course of action would be to shut her twitter account down, take away her phone, and make her do some small community service, and nothing should be put on her record.

 

[xj0hnx]

it sounds a lot like charging a 15 year old for sexual abuse of a minor for masturbating.

They would probably go for felony rape, and maybe sodomy if their finger went near their ass.