OH- Court: Teen accused of texting nude photos violated deal

4-20-2009 Ohio:

NEWARK — A teenager whose case attracted national publicity when she was facing potential sex offender status for transmitting nude photos of herself was in court again last week, according to records at the Juvenile Division of the Licking County Court of Common Pleas.

The girl, who was 15 years old when she was charged with illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material last fall, voided part of a deal with the state when she used a cell phone in February and is now accused of theft, court documents show.

The child pornography charge, which would have forced a judge to decide whether she should have registered as a sex offender for 20 years, was dropped by the state in November, but another felony charge remained viable unless she completed a diversion-like program.

The defendant was the first minor to be charged after the Licking County Prosecutor’s Office made presentations to high schools across the county about the illegality of having or transmitting pornographic images on or from their cell phones.

In a November hearing, she agreed to enter a plea of admit to one count of felony possession of criminal tools — for the cell phone — but Juvenile Judge Robert Hoover, as expected, refused to accept the plea and the matter was to be revisited in six months.

If she had abided by the conditions from the Prosecutor’s Office, the remaining charge would have been dismissed before disposition.

(eAdvocate Post)
According to court documents filed in February, she was caught by her foster parents using a cell phone. It does not specify to what end she was using the phone. Prosecutor Ken Oswalt could not be reached for comment.

She was sentenced in March to house arrest with electronic monitoring and several other conditions, including no cell phones or unsupervised computer usage, court records show.

The terms also included community service, which she was fulfilling at Licking Valley Elementary on April 13, the court records state. While at the school, she allegedly stole a master key, according to a juvenile complaint.

Her case has been transferred to Franklin County, which is the county from which she was placed into foster care, according to court records and earlier statements court records from Oswalt.

The girl’s legal battle was cited in The Cincinnati Enquirer last week as one of the incidents that helped spark a push by some state lawmakers to make “sexting” between minors a misdemeanor. ..News Source.. by RUSS ZIMMER • Advocate Reporter