OH- Sexting - don't do it

eAdvocate Post 4-10-2009 Ohio:

Brown County teens face serious charges

The Brown County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating an incident that occurred on March 25. According to Brown County Sheriff Dwayne Wenninger, officers from the Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the Eastern Junior High School for a report that a student had nude pictures of a female on his cell phone.

The following investigation resulted in charges being filed on one female and three male suspects, ranging from 14 to 18 years of age. Two juveniles from Western Brown Local School District and one juvenile from Eastern Local School District have been charged with the illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material or performance, which is a felony of the fifth degree. In addition, Harold E. Fields III, 18, of Mt. Orab, was also charged under the same offense, but being over18 makes the offense a felony of the second degree.

According to Western Brown Superintendent Jeffery Royalty, after preliminary investigations of the incident, the district found that the pictures originated from an eighth grade student at Mt. Orab Middle School. However, the pictures were not sent out during school hours.

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“It was not sent out during school hours at Western so it wasn’t a school discipline action. It was something the student did on their own time,” Royalty said. “However, it was disseminated around at Eastern, which made it into a discipline issue.”

Royalty said that Western Brown currently does not have a program set up to educate students about circulating nudity oriented materials.

“I can’t say we established a formal procedure, but I’d think the responsibility should fall to the parents to educate their children about this kind of behavior,” Royalty said. “I don’t think students are considering the implications of this. It’s something that can resurface and follow you forever.”

According to Brown County Prosecutor Jessica Little, if Fields is found guilty of the offense, he would be considered a tier II sex offender, and would have to register as a sex offender for 25 years. The other three juveniles who have been charged will be processed through juvenile court on delinquency related charges.

“We can’t help the way the ages fall,” Little said. “Once you’re 18 you’re an adult and you have the benefit and the burden of acting like one.”

The incident also sparked some debate on charging teens with felony sex offense charges. Little said that she received a letter from American Civil Liberties Union Legal Director Jeffrey Gamso requesting that the charges not be pursued.

“There are better ways to discourage this behavior than by lashing out and criminalizing the victims for what they have done to themselves,” Gamso said. “Teens need to be taught the risks and potential consequences of sending nude photos. But that should be done by education, not prosecution. Prosecuting teens who send photos of themselves in an attempt to protect them from themselves or to serve as a warning to others could have dire and unintended consequences on these kids.”

Little said she disagrees with the position of the ACLU, and that incidents like this increase the materials available for pedophiles as well as ruin lives.

“I disagree with the position the ACLU has,” Little said. “I agree we need to increase education but we need to show them the consequences for their actions.”

“The laws are really lacking on this kind of activity, but we’re going to proceed with the laws we have available.” Little said. ..News Source.. by Staff report