Ohio Legislature begins hearings on teen ‘sexting’

5-14-2010 Ohio:

The Ohio House began committee hearings Thursday on legislation making it illegal for teens to distribute nude pictures of themselves and other minors but stops short of imposing sexual-offender registration requirements.

House Bill 473, sponsored by Rep. Connie Pillich, a Democrat from the Cincinnati area, would ban “sexting” — electronically sharing nude images. Individuals younger than 18 caught sending nude photos of themselves would face delinquency charges, and those sending photos of others would face misdemeanor charges. But they would not be labeled as sex offenders.

“We need to have special treatment for juveniles because they are children,” she said. “They are bombarded with sex images and have access to all sorts of media that children didn’t have access to even 10 years ago. They make foolish decisions. That’s why they’re children. That’s why we have juvenile court versus adult court. ... I think children do stupid things and they do things without much deliberation sometimes.”

Other sexting bills have been introduced in the Legislature, including one in the Ohio Senate that had its first hearing more than a year ago.

The issue has gained national attention after incidents in multiple states in which teens face child-pornography charges for sending nude or scantily clad images to other teens.

In Pillich’s home district, a teen committed suicide after explicit photos of her were distributed among fellow students.

“It brought the topic to my attention,” Pillich said. “It was a horrible, horrible tragedy back in Cincinnati — a young woman just getting ready to go off to college but just could not get past the harassment she received after her photo was proliferated to dozens and dozens of people she didn’t know.” ..Source.. MARC KOVAC