MD- 'Sexting' Challenges Prosecutors To Walk Fine Line

4-7-2009 Maryland:

Prosecutors in Maryland are working with schools to deal with the growing number of teenagers sending nude pictures of themselves over the phone to friends and others.

While not strictly illegal if consensual, sexting, as the practice has come to be known, has led to prosecutions in some cases nationwide.

Local prosecutors say they are responding on a case by case basis, and do not, as a usual practice, charge minors who are caught sexting.

"Does the transmittal of a photograph constitute child pornography, and, if it does, we want to get to the bottom of it," Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellengerger said. "Most of the cases don't qualify as child pornography."

Problems may develop, however, if the photos end up on the web, where the sender no longer has any control over their use.

(Posted by eAdvocate)

The main effort, Shellenberger said, is to educate students, parents, and others about the dangers and the reach of the law.

"The possession, the making, and the sending of child pornography is against the law," Shellenberger said.

A misdemeanor carries a two year jail sentence, he said. A felony has a 10 year sentence. "It depends on the kind of photograph that you're sending," Shellenberger said.

"What we're trying to concentrate on is serious child pornography," Shellenberger said, "And those folks go to jail."

"Sending images of sexual matters is child pornography, no matter how you cut it," Assistant U.S. Attorney in Baltimore Bonnie Greenberg said.

"Generally, our office does not prosecute juveniles," Greenberg said.

Her office is working with the state's attorneys offices to help educate the children to stop the conduct, she said.

The problem, she said, is once it gets on a friend's computer, it can go on the web, and "once it's there, it's there forever."

About 1 in 5 teens surveyed in the latest study reported sexting.

Several teens in Pennsylvania were charged earlier this year with child pornography after sending images of themselves on their cell phones. ..News Source.. by Steve Fermier