Girl, 15, Faces Porn Charges For Sexting

[Lady L]

Pa. Teen Charged With Distributing Child Porn For Sending Nude Pix Of Herself Via Cell Phone

CLEARFIELD, Pa. -- A 15-year-old girl from central Pennsylvania faces child pornography charges after police say she sent nude pictures of herself over the Internet.

Clearfield County District Attorney William Shaw says the girl has been charged as a juvenile with possessing, distributing and creating child pornography.

The girl is living with her mother. Authorities say the girl sent the pictures after communicating in June 2007 with a 27-year-old man over the MySpace networking Web site.

The practice has been called "sexting" for the prevalence of teens to transmit images via a cell phone.

Shaw says the man has also been charged with unlawful sexual activity. State police found the images on the man's computer.

The case is similar to a situation in a Wisconsin high school, where a student forwarded a sexually explicit picture of his ex-girlfriend to 100 or more classmates.

Capt. Mark Stigler said police are pursuing possible felony child pornography charges against the teens who distributed the photo.

Police and school officials in Waukesha are warning parents to check their children's cell phones, making sure any such images are deleted.

Principal Melissa Thompson of Waukesha High School told CBS News correspondent Kelli Watson, "Kids really need to know and understand that their digital footprint will live on."

Last month, police in Greenburg, Pa., said three girls ages 14 to 15 allegedly sent nude or semi-nude cell phone pictures of themselves to three male classmates. All six face charges of manufacturing, disseminating or possessing child pornography.

Roughly 20 percent of teens admit to participating in sexting, according to a nationwide survey by the National Campaign to Support Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

"This is a serious felony. They could be facing many years in prison," CBS News legal analyst Lisa Bloom said of the six Pennsylvania teenagers.

But, Bloom added, "What are we going to do, lock up 20 percent of America's teens?"

http://www.cbs59.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=52756

I hate when someone says something dumb ...locking up a teenager is really going to do good for her...:rolleyes2: Todays teenagers need structure, culture, respect...and the answer to the problem mostly lies within the media and entertainment industry. Fix that problem and we will hear less and less of " girls gone wild " :wink

[Creeping Death]

Todays teenagers need structure, culture, respect...and the answer to the problem mostly lies within the media and entertainment industry.
I dont blame the young girl at all, I say sue the Jewish controlled Porn industry (http://www.jewishquarterly.org/article.asp?articleid=38) that makes this type of indecent exposure seem desirable. If we could sue Tobacco companies then we could sue those cretins for flooding the internet with porn.

[Skandi]

What an idiotic thing to prosecute! So she ends up on the sex offenders register for looking at herself? Quick ban mirrors.

[SwordoftheVistula]

Well, the way the law is written, she is in violation, so they have to charge her or change the way the law is written. She most likely will not get any kind of punishment, but I think it's good that they are prosecuting it to send a message that this sort of thing is not proper.

[Manifest Destiny]

I dont blame the young girl at all, I say sue the Jewish controlled Porn industry (http://www.jewishquarterly.org/article.asp?articleid=38) that makes this type of indecent exposure seem desirable. If we could sue Tobacco companies then we could sue those cretins for flooding the internet with porn.

Not a bad idea, but it will probably never happen.

Three reasons:

1) Smoking related diseases were costing the government (welfare system, in other words) a lot of money. The government is far more protective if "its money" than it allows citizens to be of their money.

2) Tobacco companies tend to donate a lot of money to the GOP and its candidates. Many of the people demanding reparations from "Big Tobacco" were Democrats who undoubtedly were looking to financially damage their political foes.

3) Eventually The Powers That Be will get around to banning (or trying to ban) things that are politically incorrect; pro-white literature, pro-white web sites, non-racist critics of diversity and multiculturalism, etc. But things like porn and Black Nationalist propaganda will ALWAYS be defended as freedom of expression.

[Hrolf Kraki]

That´s like slapping yourself in the face and then being arrested for assault. :rolleyes:

[Beorn]

But, Bloom added, "What are we going to do, lock up 20 percent of America's teens?"


Perhaps it might do the little sluts some good. Throw them in a cell with big Louise the Louisiana lesbian and tell them that they are whores and should be disgusted with themselves.

Perhaps we could make the parents watch as a lesson in how they have failed their children, themselves and society.

[Electronic God-Man]

I don't think this is that uncommon though, really. I've been around my brother and his friends from high school enough to know that some girls are stupid enough to think their boyfriends and boy-crushes are going to keep these pictures to themselves. And this coming from a Catholic school!

Most of the time these aren't hardcore pictures, mostly breasts.

I guess the real question is, Are teenage girls suddenly more whorish or have they always been this way but now they have the technology to do dumber things?

[Beorn]

I guess the real question is, Are teenage girls suddenly more whorish or have they always been this way but now they have the technology to do dumber things?


A very good point. :thumb001:

I believe it is the easy access to both hand-held cameras and home computers without parental supervision which has increased the phenomenon.

To say teenage girls were not thinking these thoughts, or exposing themselves in this manner would be absurd; (not to mention discounting my teenage years :D).

Porn is exactly the same.
Not a bad thing on the whole, but saturation levels with which we witness today are doing nothing for the morality of generation after generation of young people.

[Lady L]

– The FBI has rescued 48 suspected teenage prostitutes, some as young as 13 years old, in a nationwide sweep to remove kids from the illegal sex trade and punish their accused pimps.

Over a three-night initiative called Operation Cross Country, federal agents working with local law enforcement also arrested more than 571 suspects on a variety of federal and state prostitution-related charges, the bureau said.
The teenage prostitutes found in the investigation ranged in age from 13 to 17.

"We may not be able to return their innocence but we can remove them from this cycle of abuse and violence," said FBI Director Robert Mueller.
Meanwhile, in Memphis, Tenn., a man pleaded guilty Monday to federal civil rights charges for sex trafficking in minors. Leonard Fox faces at least 10 years in prison after admitting that he arranged for underaged girls to engage in sex for money.

"To sexually prey upon young girls in this manner for financial gain is particularly damaging to the victims and an affront to the society in which we live," said Loretta King, acting head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

Historically, federal authorities rarely play a role in anti-prostitution crackdowns, but the FBI is becoming more involved as it tries to rescue children caught up in the business.

"The goal is to recover kids. We consider them the child victims of prostitution," said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Daniel Roberts.
"Unfortunately, the vast majority of these kids are what they term 'throwaway kids,' with no family support, no friends. They're kids that nobody wants, they're loners. Many are runaways," Roberts said.

Most of the children are put into the custody of local child protection agencies.

Agents in cities from Miami to Chicago to Anchorage, Alaska took part in the operation.

Special Agent Melissa Morrow of the FBI's Washington office said the operation has put them on the trail of a particular 16-year-old prostitute they still haven't found.

Adult prostitutes arrested during the operation provided key tips about the girl, the agent said.

"She is currently 16 and started when she was 13. Now she is out there recruiting other juveniles as well," said Morrow, adding that finding the girl is "at the top of our list."

The federal effort is also designed to hit pimps with much tougher prison sentences than they would likely get in state criminal courts.

Government prosecutors look to bring racketeering charges or conspiracy charges that can result in decades of jail time.

"Some of these networks of pimps and their organizations are very sophisticated, they're interstate," said Roberts, requiring wiretaps and undercover sting operations to bring charges.

The weekend's roundup marked the third such Operation Cross Country, and is part of a broader federal program launched in 2003 to crack down on the sexual exploitation of children.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090223/ap_on_go_ot/child_prostitutes

:(

[WinterMoon]

When I first read the original article in the news about the girl being charged for sexting, my thoughts were that this is a good thing. Teens should be charged. People want to talk about allowing teens to be responsible for their behavior, but then when a teen is held accountable then people want to rush to their defense. I was reading a thread on another forum where someone suggested that young teens girls are mature enough to decide how provocatively they dress..... well, then they are also mature enough to be held accountable for creating "child porn" on their cell phones and distributing the images.

[Beorn]

Girl, 15, exposed as £100,000-a- year prostitute after teacher finds condoms stuffed in her schoolbag (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1155502/Girl-15-exposed-100-000-year-prostitute-teacher-finds-condoms-stuffed-schoolbag.html)

A 15-year-old schoolgirl earned up to £14,000 in two months working as a prostitute, a court heard today.The teenager pocketed more than £1,700 every weekend working for an escort agency in Newcastle. Over 12 months she could have earned £100,000.

She lied about her age to clients and kept up with her school work during the week.

[Psychonaut]

I've been thinking about this ever since Mrs. L posted the article and I don't think that there should really be any legal repercussions for the girl. Granted, this is certainly not the type of behavior I'd like to see from my children, but I think that our current practice of penalizing victimless crimes is atrocious as well. This girl hurt no one but herself in doing what she did and thus owes society no debt. Punishing people for crimes like this, or for prostitution, drug use etc. are ways for the government to impose morality through legislation, which I'm generally opposed to.

[SwordoftheVistula]

I highly doubt she'd be thrown in jail. A few hours of 'community service', if that.

[ReichGirl]

I hate when someone says something dumb ...locking up a teenager is really going to do good for her...:rolleyes2: Todays teenagers need structure, culture, respect...and the answer to the problem mostly lies within the media and entertainment industry. Fix that problem and we will hear less and less of " girls gone wild " :wink

then we will have a sex crazed lesbian :rolleyes:

[Sigurd]

That´s like slapping yourself in the face and then being arrested for assault. :rolleyes:

Or the days when you could still be tried for failing in your attempt to commit suicide. :rolleyes2:

[SwordoftheVistula]

It's certainly a problem for children, as it has been linked to suicides. If an adult wants to screw up their life, that's fine, but children should be protected until they are old enough.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1538742/jesse_logan_committed_suicide_after.html

Jesse Logan committed suicide over sexting, and her mother Cynthia Logan is bringing her daughter death out in the public to bring awareness to the consequences of sexting.

18-year-old Jesse Logan did what so many other girls her age have done: She sent nude pictures of herself to her boyfriend. Jesse Logan and her boyfriend broke up and he decided to share the private pictures with other teen girls. The girls then started calling Jesse names such as slut and whore. The pressure was too much for Jesse and she took her own life, she committed suicide by hanging herself. Her mother, Cynthia Logan, was on the TODAY show today and explained what happened to her only child Jesse.

Jesse Logan chose to speak out about sexting on television only two months before she committed suicide. Jesse just wanted to make other teens aware of the consequences of sending sexually charged pictures. Cynthia Logan bravely talked to Matt Lauer today to make other parents and teens aware of what can happen when you send nude pictures or sexually explicit messages through email or cell phone texts.

Teens who send and receive nude pictures can be charged with child pornography. Six teenagers in Pennsylvania were charged with child pornography after sending and receiving nude pictures on their cell phone. The teens ranged in age from 14 to 17 years old.

Many parents are wondering what is sexting?

Sexting is sending any nude or partially nude pictures, or sexually oriented messages through cell phone texting, email or posting on a social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook. Many parents wrongly assume their teen would never do such a thing. The fact is if you spend a few minutes on Myspace, Facebook or even YouTube you will find many sexually explicit pictures being posted and video being shared. Teens are also using webcams to record nude video of themselves. The webcams are easily viewable through most instant message (IM) sites like Yahoo chat.

[Gwynyvyr]

If these kids are charged and convicted, this will be on their records FOREVER.
They will have to register as sexual offenders, probably for the rest of their lives.

They will be unable to take jobs as teachers, or ANY job that puts them in contact with children under 18.
Most colleges will not accept you if you have this on your record.
Your passport can be denied.
When they have their own children, they will be scrutinized by local child welfare authorities---even if they have that child 15 years from now.
They may have to put a *sexual offender lives here* sign in their front yard in some areas.
Unlike many charges, sexual offender charges do not disappear from a persons record at age 18 in most sates.

Seems a bit harsh to me!

Look, American media has sexualized younger and younger teens as time went on.
Paris Hilton is an icon to many young girls.
Mothers *tart up* 6 year olds for child beauty pageants.
*Hannah Montana* (Miley Cyrus) has her boyfriend living with her and young girls that idolize her know this!

Parents need to say "STOP!" in no uncertain terms.
Take cell phones away from kids...or get them ones with no texting and no camera capability.

So many parents let television raise their kids these days and that's frightening.

I think that perhaps a judge in these cases should have the cell phones taken away from the girls until they are 18. Give them community service and, if possible, have them go to a girls school. There are still a few around.

I just don't think labeling them as *sexual offenders* will do the community or the young girls in question much good.

[SwordoftheVistula]

I'll agree/say that children (under 18) should not have cell phones, and access to TV/internet should be limited.

A note in regards to the American criminal justice system in general, being charged with something does not equal a conviction. The standard procedure is to throw as many criminal charges as fancifully possible at anyone who crosses their radar, and then force the person to plead guilty to some of what they actually did in return for most of the other charges being dropped. I think a more efficient system could be designed, but that's the one we have now. As such, this girl will not be convicted of the things she is charged with (unless she is totally retarded and refuses to accept whatever plea deal is offered her), and will not suffer those extreme punishments. It's just way the system sends a message to people, in all likelihood she'll just have to go to some 'counseling sessions' or something.

[Absinthe]

Take cell phones away from kids...

Hallelujah, sister!! :lightbul:

What are teens and pre-teens doing with cell phone anyways? :rolleyes: Do they need them in order to book appointments or keep in touch with their businesses? :rolleyes2:

You see, the whole problem stems from the fact that childhood is taken away from children.

The more adult gadgets you give to a child, the more adult are the ways by which the child is prone to use them.