Teens' Nude Pics "Spread Like Wildfire"

Kids Who Use Cell Phones To Take Nude Self Portraits Rue It When The Pics Wind Up On The Web

(AP)  Teenagers are increasingly snapping naked pictures of themselves on their cell phones, officials say, with the photos often falling into the wrong hands.

Sometimes the photos end up in everyone's hands, via the Internet.

"It used to be that kids would make mistakes, and it was local and singular and everyone knew it was part of growing up," said Catherine Davis, who had a frank talk with her two sons after several students' nude self-portraits recently spread through the wealthy New York City-area suburb of Westport, Connecticut. "Now a stupid adolescent mistake can take on major implications and go on their record for the rest of their lives."

Such images are complicating the work of investigators whose job is to find exploited children. Authorities trying to identify youngsters in naked photos are increasingly discovering that the teens themselves took the shots, said John Shehan, a director at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

School administrators in Santa Fe, Texas, confiscated dozens of cell phones from students in May after nude photos of two junior high girls began circulating. The girls had sent the photos to their boyfriends, who forwarded them to others, officials said.

In La Crosse, Wisconsin, a 17-year-old boy recently was charged with child pornography, sexual exploitation of a child and defamation for allegedly posting nude photos of his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend on his MySpace page. The girl had taken the pictures with her cell phone at her mother's home and e-mailed them to the boyfriend, authorities said.

"They were pretty graphic," said sheriff's Sgt. Mark Yehle. "I think they just do it to impress their boyfriends. When he breaks up, he `vents,' in his words, by posting them. He apparently didn't think there was anything wrong with it. He didn't know it was illegal."

Psychologists said the phenomenon reflects typical teenage hormones and lack of judgment, with technology multiplying the potential for mischief. It also may reflect a teenage penchant for exhibitionism, as demonstrated on MySpace and countless other Web sites and blogs.

Brianna Moran, 15, who attends the same school as the girl in the La Crosse case, said she is not surprised by such behavior. "They probably think they're hot or something. If you look at people's MySpace, all the pictures are slutty," she said.

In suburban Syracuse, New York, several teenage girls sent naked pictures on their phones to their boyfriends, only to learn that another boy had collected them from the Web and was trying to sell a DVD of them.

Some boys are photographing themselves, too. In Utah, a 16-year-old boy was charged with a felony for sending nude photos of himself over a cell phone to several girls. Four middle school students - two boys and two girls - in Daphne, Alabama, took photos of themselves on their cell phones and traded the images back and forth, authorities said.

Connecticut police Sgt. Jim Smith, who investigates cybercrime and online child pornography, conducts seminars in which he warns parents about the use of cell phones to send nude pictures.

"It's often so spur of the moment that they're not thinking about where those images might end up," Smith said. "They might think it's just fun and games at the time they do it, but these images can really spread like wildfire."

[staycalm]

All members of the YSA...Young *** of America. Today''s American youth couldn''t have created the dark, trashy, stinking pit of evil they exist in without the help of adults...their parents who indulge them...the entertainment industry which indulges them and provides a never ending source of new and lower debaucheries...their schools which have taken away their God and moral compass and replaced them with ideas of "tolerance" for anything and everything. When you tolerate everything, you cannot judge anything so, as you all can see, there is no judgement happening...and no thinking either. Just a lock-step acceptance of political correctness. What we are seeing is actually a kind of liberal fascism...liberal because there are no limits and fascist because we are all too afraid to speak out against it. Why? Is there a Hitler of Mussolini controlling our speech or are we all just an amazing bunch of cowards!

[blackyowe]

Well it shows you how really sick our country has become. Can''t say I feel sorry for the girls who do this. Obviously they have some serious problems with morality. One out of four has a STD is it any wonder?

[johnstossel]

He didn''t think this was illegal??? He should spend life in prison in order to stay out of the gene pool! Ignorance of the law is no excuse, butthead.

[johnstossel]

He didn''t think this was illegal??? He should spend life in prison in order to stay out of the gene pool! Ignorance of the law is no excuse, butthead.

[anonbene]

So? Having or seeing a human body is now a crime. On sexuality this country is schitzophrenic. What a shame that being sent a t&a pic from your girlfriend can get you labeled as a felon for a *** crime. If it wasn''t for the act of "porn" you wouldn''t be here.

[markangeloo]

No Burkas Here

Isn''t that why we are fighting the war in Iraq
for the freedom of flesh & our cult of the body sexual.
Vive la USA

[darnedsocks]

WHY DON''T PARENTS DEMAND MANUFACTURERS PROVIDE CELL PHONE WITHOUT THE PICTURE-TAKING FEATURE?!

[simplemind2]

Moral decay!
Where are the parents of those boys/girls that couldn''t differentiate moral vs immoral?
What a shame!

[prairiefox1]

NO GENTLEMEN BEING RAISED TODAY! WE ARE A THING OF THE PAST!

[acolton1]

Teenagers are pretty much stupid and dont think. If they take a nude picture and send it to somebody its pretty much fair game to send it all over the internet and that is how teens think.

I have no sympathy what so ever.

[libh8er]

These days, if you''re dumb enough to take nude pix of yourself on your cellph, you deserve what you get. Keep those pix coming! I live vicariously thru you! :)

[sistatee-2009]

Taking nude pictures of teens should be done only by responsible adults such as teachers, school administrators and clergy who have *** with them.

[libh8er]

Posted by SistaTee at 04:34 PM : Jun 04, 2008

OOooooo.....Sista TOLJA! :)

[hypnotoad72]

Moral decay indeed. I say we look at discipline that used to be used, before it was dropped.

Wait, we had people on the stocks and all that... why do it now when the humiliation of everyone potentially seeing their naked bodies is little different?

Indeed, if we didn''t have moral decay, this wouldn''t be an issue to make sardonic jokes about.

[caliengineer]

Ah, the signs of an eroding empire: moral decay.

[rushman71]

darnedsocks: Thank you. At least someone makes sense. If it were my choice, no one under the age of 18 would be allowed to posess a cell phone, period!!!

[Netterz]

The Gov''t took away the rights of parents to discipline children. Morality is a choice, you can choose to have it, or not. Since we can not impose any form of discpline on the children of today, but the Gov''t still holds the parent as the responsible party in the criminal behaviors, or pick and choose which crimes and which children will be charged as adults in which crime, this doesnt suprise me at all. Such movies as ''Cruel Intentions'' and ''American Pie'' give perfect examples. Hollywood is what molds childrens behaviors. Eating disorders, mental problems over not having the perfect body, and the sexual exploitation shoved down the throats of kis every day, drugs, drinking games,pharm parties, the list is endless. A 6 yr old was just discovered forcing other children of is age, to perform sexual acts on him in bathrooms and on the bus. Had nothing todo with bad parenting, he had seen it from older kids. Soon, we will have no children, they will be born, and expected to act, respond, conduct themselves as adults.

[questionnews]

Here''s a sticky question.
A 10 year old takes a pic of himself / herself and they put it on thier computer, e-mails it or posts it on a personal site (My Space)are they commiting the crime of producing & distributing child porn??

Are they now s.e.x offenders?
Should there be punishment?

[Netterz]

The will probably end up charging the parents who have no idea that such things can even be DONE via the cell phones they give there kids, with supporting and distributing child porn. Took me 2 days to figure out how to change my ring tone, well enough text msg, or pic sending.

[Netterz]

I can not even imagine how we all survived, getting our butts spanked, chewing on lead based paint on our toys and cribs, no video games, cell phones, black and white tv shows..cartoons, but coming from the generation that has spent our education provising the world with all the things we grew up with/without, and the Gov''t stepping into our homes to tell us how we will/willnot raise our children, or they will place them in a foster home, where they will experience 3 times the abuse they might or might not have experienced had they been left in the parental home.....creating a generation of what now....10 yr olds who will be labeled for life as s.e.x. offenders?

[dragonmouse-2009]

Ok...here''s the question...why is the boy always being charged?

The girl sends HIM pictures and he gets charged for passing them around... SHE started it...shouldn''t SHE be charged quit acting like she is a victim...

A BOY sends his picture to girls and HE is charged...why are THEY not charged HE was a minor too (come on...you KNOW they passed around HIS picture).

Sometimes lessons are only learned the HARD way. I''ll bet there are plenty that turn around and do it again. I just do NOT feel sorry for them.

[Latrocinor]

Morality is carried on the vehicle of religion.

Since religious belief is becoming outcast we should expect those morals to become outcast too.

[sgtrds-e4]

There are dozens of "revenge" type websites where people can post nudes of their ex''s to get back at them. Anyone who allows anyone to take pics of themselves had better be sure they really trust the person taking them.

[scottyusa]

Good points OldThought. I was brought up by the lash and never made the same mistake twice.

[dbstevens]

What can we expect with the media shoving shallow sexuality down the throats of everyone all the time? Almost everything you see on TV and in the movies has to do with base *** appeal...nothing about character, propriety, intelligence, etc. A person''s worth, according to the media, is measured solely on how much they provoke another person to want to sleep with them. I don''t blame the teenagers.

[Netterz]

I agree with you dragonmouse. SHE sent the pics. The young girls that send them should be held accountable for there actions and involvement in these situations. The same over consentual s.e.x. acts. If the female is an active participant with another minor, SHE should suffer the same punishment, for putting herself out there as well.

[Consumer007]

I think instead of sending them to other kids, they should send them to uptight right-wing Republican Christians like Bill O''Reilly, etc. and then let''s arrest them for owning child porn, ha ha.

[nordeck52]

Why in the world do middle schoolers even have cell phones to start with? They shouldn''t have them until high school. Middle schoolers have absolutely no need for them.

[mlissab]

I agree that both parties should be charged.

I also have concerns about saying make sure you trust the person taking/being sent the pictures. There are a lot of people I trusted in my younger days that I wouldn''t even associate with now. I had the common sense to not allow this sort of thing to happen, even with people I trusted. If you don''t want the world to see it, don''t let it exist.

I, personally, am going to send this article to my 18 yr old daughter to show her what can happen if she doesn''t exercise good judgement. She will look at me like I am dumb and of tell me of course she knows better, but at least I will know I have done something other than standing by acting shocked.

[neo267-2009]

Nudity isn''t pornography. And even the pics of explicit *** they are sharing just shows that Child Porn laws are hopelessly out of touch with reality - as are, apparently, all parents.

[billpl-2009]

Oh my GOD!!!!
low quality pictures of the human anatomy
We''re all going to HELL!!!

All long as there''s no malice or criminal intent involved
(which can be judged on a case by case basis, with existing laws)

...it''s nothing but pixels on a screen
get over it

[Netterz]

Ummmm, Neo.... nudity or acts involving s.e.x any minor, is illegal. can think of no reason that it SHOULD NOT be illegal. It isnt artisitic, isnt moral, isnt religious, the only purpose it holds, is to feed the need of sick individuals, who veiw children as s.e.x. objects, that in my opinion, all need to be plucked from the earth, and burned, like the trash they are.

[middleman8]

Dang, i were born 60 year 2 soon.

[sosickofthis]

mlissab cn i have ur email address

[CBSTV]

Oh horrors. The human body is being shown in its natural state. If only people were not sexual creatures, the world would be a better place.

The antics of these teen-agers might be culturally uncool, but it is absurd to be criminally prosecuting people who choose to photograph their bodies. This situation is substantially different than "child pornography" when youngsters are forced to participate in sexual acts.

The "solution" is to inform the parents, not make teens felons and incarcerate them.

[hunterdon6]

WOW! Not even one of you people has blamed Bush for this.

[robaldrich]

Someone said: All long as there''s no malice or criminal intent involved (which can be judged on a case by case basis, with existing laws)

No, wrong as usual for public commenters.

Malice is not required as an element of underage *** crimes. The only "criminal intent" is the intent to distribute the picture, if that. In some jurisdictions, possession and distribution without intent would be sufficient. Knowledge that the subject is underage is not required in either case.

Rob

[ubikvalis2]

The punishment should fit the crime. Adults molesting and exploiting children cause great harm and should be severely punished.

Teenagers snapping naked pictures of themselves and sharing are just doing the typically stupid things teenagers do -- it''s relatively harmless and the fact they are being prosecuted like hardcore felons shows how out of control and rigid kiddie porn laws are in this country.

[killface7]

What did you expect? I bet the boys started it by taking snapshots of their equipment and sending it on. YeeHaw. I am glad I am not under 30 these days.

[killface7]

and what''s wrong with being naked? Prudes.

[mljohns00]

When did nude become synonymous with pornographic? A nude photo of a minor is not necessarily "child porn", as much as many folks would now like to believe.

[billpl-2009]

".... Liberalism is the fuel for this problem. Religion might not be perfect but they don%u2019t outright promote premisious lewd acts JUST LIKE THE LIBERAL MEDIA...." -- Posted by libsluv2spit

No, but they commit them no different than any other group of people.

[obeylaw]

and what''''s wrong with being naked? Prudes.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by killface7 at 06:47 PM : Jun 04, 2008

Just curious....do you get lonely with your head in the dark areas of your body? Obama will straghten it all out...with muslim rules.

[bush_mcsame]

If a 14 year old girl posts nude pics of her self on the net, is she gonna be charged with child porn? I''d love to see such a case in the courts!!
If she''s charged with a misdemeanor & a fine, then at what age would this stop? 12? 10? 8? younger?

[ioweign]

Trust me when I say this. Liberalism is the fuel for this problem. Religion might not be perfect but they don%u2019t outright promote premisious lewd acts JUST LIKE THE LIBERAL MEDIA.

Posted by libsluv2spit at 06:20 PM : Jun 04, 2008

And now Larry Craig is writing a book about "What Happened" and it will be the messenger''s fault again...

[ioweign]

WHY DON''''T PARENTS DEMAND MANUFACTURERS PROVIDE CELL PHONE WITHOUT THE PICTURE-TAKING FEATURE?!

Posted by darnedsocks at 04:19 PM : Jun 04, 2008



Why have a phone ??

[olebd]

This is what happens when kids look up to the likes of Jamie Lynn Spears, who is pregnant with a *** child, and Miley Cyrus who says her favorite show is Se*x in the City.

These little angels see more and know more than any adult wants to realize. They know what they are doing when they snap the picture.

Equal charges against both parties involved until the USA can get over this modern day witch hunt known as nudity in pictures.

[haoli25]

If a 14 year old girl posts nude pics of her self on the net, is she gonna be charged with child porn? Posted by Bush_McSame

Actually, YES. Under Federal law, it is illegal to ''posses'' or to ''distribute'' child porn. Now, whether a Federal prosecutor will make a case out of one of these is another story.

[cdfoxtrot]

Trust me when I say this. Liberalism is the fuel for this problem. Religion might not be perfect but they don%u2019t outright promote premisious lewd acts JUST LIKE THE LIBERAL MEDIA.

Posted by libsluv2spit at 06:20 PM : Jun 04, 2008


Religion making a big deal about nudity is the problem, here, not the solution. If nudity wasn''t the big deal it is, all due to the puritanical attitudes of some people, this wouldn''t even be a story.

[dobbershome]

You would think kid''s would know better than to expose themselves with a phone camera and then send it to someone else.