Sexting - Will You Accept The Possible Punishments?

Just what is sexting?

Sexting is the cell phone distribution of messages, photos or videos of a sexual nature. Sending nude or semi-nude photos can be a felony! What??? How can that be? A child, under the age of 18, who sends a naked photo of himself/herself can be charged with felony child pornography. The person or persons who resend the photos can also receive a felony charge for the distribution of child pornography.

Most sexting is done by teenagers using their cell phones. Most of them don't even know it's a crime and many that do, don't care. While sexting between boyfriend and girlfriend may seem innocent enough and limited to the relationship of two people, the consequences reach far beyond those two people. In many cases, a breakup of the relationship triggers the distribution of photos. Girlfriend breaks off the relationship. Boyfriend is angry. Boyfriend sends the naked pictures of his ex to all his friends. If he is 18 and she is 16, he is going to jail. If convicted, he could do prison time and be added to a registry of sex offenders for the rest of his life. Sound severe? It is. What starts off as "true love" ends with prison and a lifetime of misery.

Case in point: Phillip Alpert, of Orlando Florida had just turned 18. He and his 16 year old high school sweetheart of 2 1/2 years had an argument. To retaliate, he sent a naked photo she had sent him of herself, to her family and friends. In retrospect, he says it was an immature act by an immature kid. The Orlando police didn't take it so lightly. Phillip was arrested and charged with sending child pornography, a felony. He pleaded no contest, but was later convicted. He was sentenced to five years probation and is required to register as a sex offender.

Most of us think of child pornographers as those who violate small or underage children in the most devious of circumstances. We never stop to consider that the laws of our country don't discriminate between hard core child pornography and youthful "indiscretions". Distributing photos of anyone under the age of 18 is a crime. It doesn't matter if they are 3 years old or 17 years old.

This begs the question...Is this fair? "Victims" knowingly and willingly take photos of themselves and send them to another person. In today's technology, how much privacy can we expect if we use a public device for the transmission of pictures? Granted, we expect the person we "love" to respect our privacy and not distribute private information, but when things go wrong, love goes out the window.

The laws appear too severe in these types of situations. Child pornography laws on the possession or dissemination of graphic images were never meant to apply to teen sexting. These teenagers usually have no criminal intent when they send pictures to each other. Most teens are not participating in child pornography in the legal sense with which the laws were created. The teens who are sexting each other are not sexting with children. They are communicating with their peers and none of them consider themselves children. To adults, they are still children. To them, they are grown up enough to explore their own and each other's sexuality.

Exploring sexuality is not new to this generation. In past generations, it was not all that uncommon for a high school senior to date a sophomore. If that senior turned 18 before his prom and took the 16 year old to that prom, he could be charged with statutory rape if they had sex that evening. If the evening didn't end with intercourse, but with some lesser sex act, he could be jailed for a number of other charges. Sexual assault, sexual battery, sexual abuse of a minor, etc. If it happened today, he could be jailed, spend time in prison and be required to register on a sex offender site.

Aside from the legal consequences, there are personal consequences. First of all, there is the reputation issue. In the old days, a reputation was created verbally. Hearsay could be disputed. Today, we have photographic "proof" of someone's indiscretions and the "proof" can easily be distributed. We can't undo someone seeing a nude picture of another. That image is permanent. Another reputation consequence has been an increase in suicides among those whose reputations have been damaged by the distribution of photos. The disgrace and humiliation become so unbearable that some see no alternative than to take their own life. Jessica Logan of Cincinnati, Ohio took her own life after being ridiculed and taunted at high school. Her boyfriend sent pictures of her to other classmates.

What can be done?

Laws must be changed to reflect the changes in communications. The punishment should fit the crime and most sexting has no criminal intent.

Education and communication is vital to address this phenomenon. As parents, we need to communicate with our children and help them understand the long term consequences of their actions. Our worldwide communications systems broadcast whatever we choose to make available. Our children need to discontinue their personal open book policy. While social web sites are wonderful communication tools, we need our children to understand that not every bit of our personal lives needs to be part of a public forum!