"Sexting" Leads to Child Porn Charges for Teens

(CBS)  This story is by CBS News Correspondent Michelle Miller and CBS News Producer Phil Hirschkorn

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At Susquenita High School, 15 miles outside of Harrisburg, Pa., eight students, ranging in age from 13 to 17, have learned a tough lesson about "sexting."

"Take a photograph of yourself or somebody else nude and send it to somebody else, you've committed the crime," said Perry County District Attorney Charles Chenot, who has prosecuted two sexting cases involving a total of 10 minors in the past year.

Chenot said he considers sexting a form of child pornography and wants kids to understand once those images are in someone else's hands they could wind up anywhere, even the Internet, possibly forever.

The teens at Susquenita High, who all knew each other, were accused last fall of using their cell phones to take, send, or receive nude photos of each other and in one case a short video of a oral sex. That resulted in a felony pornography charge for each minor.

"That was the only charge that really fits what they were doing," said Chenot. "What would have been the best thing to charge would be something that would have been a little less severe but would still draw these teenagers' attention to the wrongness of their acts."

Former U.S. Rep. Don Bailey, a Harrisburg civil rights attorney, is skeptical.

"Should they be crimes at all?" Bailey asked. "This is an over-zealous and inappropriate application of the criminal law."

Bailey represents the lone student from Susquenita who has not pleaded guilty to lesser charges, which would require him to take a class on victimization and perform community service. After successfully completing the so-called "diversionary program" and a period of probation, those juvenile conviction records would be expunged, according to Chenot.

"Are you going to stop kids from sexting that way?" Bailey asked. "Maybe you should try talking to mom and dad."

At the state capitol in Harrisburg, freshman Rep. Seth Grove, R-York County, agrees.

"My view is kids should not be held under the same laws as child predators," Grove said.

His bill, which would limit the punishment for sexting, has passed the state House Judiciary Committee and is due for a full floor vote this month.

"What we're trying to do is say: 'Let's not charge a felony, let's get a common sense law together that charges a misdemeanor,'" Grove said.

Pennsylvania's proposed reform is typical of the 20 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, that have considered new sexting laws for minors during the past two years. Five states -- Arizona, Nebraska, North Dakota, Utah and Vermont -- have already adopted changes.

"We need the appropriate punishment for the crime," Grove said.

But some advocates object that sexting, especially between teens who consent to exchange the images, is considered a crime in the first place.

"Why should we criminalize a kid for taking and possessing a photo of herself," said Marsha Levick, legal director of the non-profit Juvenile Law Center. "There is no problem that needs to be solved."

How schools find out about the nude photos has also provoked a debate with some child advocates complaining that schools are on shaky legal footing when it comes to searching students' cell phones.

A case in point pits a 19-year-old woman known as "NN" against Tunkhannock High School, her former school, near Scranton, Pa. She graduated last year.

"I took semi-nude pictures of myself and saved them into my phone," NN told CBS News in an exclusive interview.

When NN was still 17, a teacher confiscated her phone one morning because NN was talking on it before class. The school bans student cell phone usage on school grounds. Her principal, Gregory Ellsworth, then scrolled through the phone's digital photo album.

"He told me that he found explicit photos on my phone and that he sent it away to a crime lab," NN said. "I was really embarrassed, humiliated, because it was personal."

With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, NN sued the school last month seeking damages for invasion of privacy, accusing the school of violating her First Amendment right to free speech and her Fourth Amendment protection from illegal searches and seizure.

"A search of the device is akin to browsing through someone's address and appointment book, opening and reading letters sent by U.S. mail, and rummaging through a family photo album or viewing home videos," the lawsuit says.

Ellsworth had no comment. Michael Levin, an attorney for the school district, said, "I don't think any school district should tolerate kids bringing nude photos to school whether they be in electronic or paper format." Levin said Supreme Court rulings supported the school's actions.

Besides being suspended from school for three days, NN also faced child pornography charges from the Wyoming County District Attorney. To avoid them, she agreed to a deal, like seven of the Susquenita defendants, submitting to a five-week course on violence and victimization, meeting twice a week.

"If I was victimized, it was just like by my school," NN said. "I don't think by prosecuting them it's helping them at all."

But Chenot, the Perry County district attorney, said he is just trying to protect kids.

"Probably it's harmless when they take the pictures of each other and just share them between them, but the potential is there for there to be widespread distribution," said Chenot. "What we have here is a case where technology has gotten ahead of the laws."

[jesseyjames]

8 students blanket charged with felonies.....from a child protection law...whats worse? the attorneys that represented the seven of the eight students..... dropped the ball on an easy fight.... did they fight for their clients?or at least try? was there an injunction filed against the district attorney who was pursueing these insane charges? was there even a meeting of the minds to discuss? was there a strategy plan?or just false promises? why were these kids led down the cattle shoot of accepting a consent decre?of course an easy choice right? ....to wash their hands clean....easy money......alot of money.....for doing what ? what did you attorneys do ? nothing......... then one attorney knew this was wrong.....way wrong...took a stand....fought the charges for his client......and won.....yes won...charges dropped....went against the grain and fought for what was rigth ...stood alone....people this wasnt about winning or loosing this case....it was about representing a client....fighting for civil justice....doing everything that could of been done....did you other attorneys do that? i think not..not even close...."REFUND" the generous retainer fees you took from these people ....you know who you are....you dont even have the guts to return the phone calls to your clients....now to the perry county legal system what about the other seven students...still left with these insane charges? charges that dont apply to minors period....shame on you....hows it feel knowing you did nothing and dropped the ball on a kid.....at some point we all have to answer for what we did and why and that judge doesnt sit in a courtroom..

[jesseyjames]

come on Chenott,, whats up with the investigation with school staff viewing "child porn" all day long, not to mention again on sept 25th,,,the law applies there.......... viewing,handling,distributing,,etc,etc etc...all fn day long...its been four months..wheres your update???????wheres the charges????? wheres the common sense????????? you want to "protect the students" remember that????now before you worry about pics making their way onto the internet...how about wondering whose hands there in before they get there....approx 5 staff members, maybe more have committed felony crimes under the child pornography protection law....here i shall say it again."you want to protect the students"....from what?

[capsman727]

There is more peer pressure then common sense in these schools, (tattoos are a perfect example of that) kids do things to be cool or excepted and then regret it the rest of their life.

They have no idea where these pictures might end up many years from now, maybe posted online to pop-up and embarrass themselves, their family or their employer in the future. The law says 18 is legal because we hope they have enough sense by then, of course it isn't always true but we had to create a starting point somewhere's for the so-called "adult" cycle to begin.

When cell phones stopped being telephones and became cameras and portable computers they needed to be banned from all school property, they totally distract the kids focus from school work and became entertainment devices they're anxious to share with each other and discovering new things they can do with them. They need to do all that at home where their parents are responsible for them and for their time, not at the schools.

[jesseyjames]

capsman, what do tattoos have to do with this? get off your highhorse and go back to law school...pay clear attention to "legislative intent" its very important.....here one more time "legislative intent"..... and take your sidekick with you !!! i would just like to see anyone explain where alll the blanket charges came from.....opps did i say blanket charges.....how about wrongfull charging...invasion of privacy..ill stop there and save the rest...i guess you will start coming up for a charge for tattoos too......heres your sign!!!!!lmfao!!

[jesseyjames]

well now , think its time for an update folks!!a few million curious minds want to know !!hang on people this coalition train is running full speed ahead!!

[Dragoyle]

Let it go folks!! Allow them to do what they believe to be right. When something tragic happens and come crying to you asking why nothing had been done to prevent it. Then let's ask them about their opposition defense, as to why pre-pubescents should not be criminalized or reprimanded for their sexting behavior. Yep, I totally agree that a Attorney Of Law is looking to make a name for he/herself, no matter what the outcome or consequenses will be. However, I do agree that an invasion of privacy of a person(s) property should not be violated. No matter what their age may be. To go on speculation alone is not enough without evidence of proof and legal representation by both accused and accusor. D**N If You Do and D**N If You Don't!! and the winner is!! ... Guess Who!!

[insuranceChief]

This sounds like an ambitious prosecuter trying to make a name for himself using taxpayers money and damaging kid's life.
A law applied without any flexibility or common sense it is worst that NO law at all

[jesseyjames]

@tiredofthebs, it is "legal" for a person 18 years of age an older to willingly "sext" with other adults...now its criminal"not legal"for adults to do this with minors, or even to be viewing nude pics of minors in any form. this is where the child pornography laws comes into effect,those laws are written to protect the "minor child" from the "adult predator".. one more time its legal for adults to "sext" with adults..few states already have adotpted a sexting law with one on the table for state of pa.its not an addition nor revision to the"child porn law" completely seperate.this law keeps the non common sense legal system from abusing their power and wronfully charging a minor and creating unjust destruction..however in these situation's proper protocol is to be followed by the investigating authority to make sure an adult is not involved with the kids...people can discuss all day long on sexting being right,wrong and or normal, however if you take the cellphone out of the picture, the teens will still think about "sex" and explore their sexuality.. thats called being human and being "normal"..just because a school staff would find pot on a student, would not give them the above the law legal right to smoke it all day long, just to make sure it was pot, then wait till end of school day to call police and parents..this is the big question here that at the present time the school will not reply to: why were school administrative staff memebers going through students cell phones viewing"nude photos" of their minor students?now the sick twist to this question is viewing of such photos ,after few of the questioned students had already told them what was contained on their phones?why were phones handed off to other administrative staff memebers to see? to witness each other viewing? really? wow!! thats a little fn sick..were they trying to determine whos bodypart it was? maybe thats why it continued "all day long" !! now heres a commmon sense question with a few key words: nude photos of minors,"adults" viewing and passing around nude photos of minors.. who are the real predator or predator's here?now keep in mind when this all happened kids were told by the administration this was considered "child pornograpy", that they would be placed on megans list etc etc...now lets reflect back to my analogy about the "pot", now its like holding the joint in front of the kids and saying,"you know pot is a drug and illegal, then they light up the joint smoke it and pass it around... and so it goes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dnamj]

Um, is this really an appropriate law enforcement activity? How about we just punish people who hurt other people, and stop there. Seriously, in case nobody has noticed, we've got too many people in jail. These kids will have a really hard time now getting into college and getting a job, all for a little innocent-ish fun. Laws should protect people, not provide an avenue for selective enforcement to expand the jail industry.

[tiredofthebs]

If adults can't send that type of material, why should kids be allowed to?! It's about time law enforcement started enforcing this law for kids too! Kudos!

[MNBantisbanned]

One wonders how many people convicted of child porn are actually just guilty of clicking on something. It's such a vague law. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason the conviction rate is so high is because it's a cash point for someone. Who makes money on this? Well trial lawyers, Prosecutors, judges, and politicians can make a name for themselves this way. It is the one crime where the declaration of innocence is actually considered an admission of guilt. I do see the newspapers moving to show that these possessors of porn are actually guilty of something other than having unauthorized files on their computer. I still see it as more of a huge cash cow milking the uninformed public.

[Willie_B]

You are definitely right about the conviction rate being a cash point for the State of Florida and some other States as well. There are thousands of people on the Sex Offender Registry whose crime has never involved any form of direct involvement with a child or older minor. Florida's laws involving sex offender offenses have passed the point of ridicuolus. It's been a political campaign mechanism for our current governor and his implementing a Cyberspace Unit Agency to "witch hunt" on computers for pornography and resulting in the arrest and incarceration of people who have solicitated for this type of emails have now served jail time and required to register as a Sex Offender. Florida's politicians have kept the "hysteria" pot brewing since Crist became Governor. In California, it the State over 22 million dollars just to track so-called Sex Offenders to make sure they ere not living within a 1,000 feet of a school or playground, etc. Florida's cost to do that is so ridiculous that I've heard people make statements that if the State of Florida goes broke because of their idiotic laws on this matter, maybe the politicians, prosecutors, and public would try using some "common sense" at some point. Revenue from prisons, probation, monitors, etc., are a really big CASH COW for the State and if researched, "Prionism and Tourism" run "neck in neck" for being a huge revenue source, so instead of wanting "new laws", the public needs to demand a reformation of the laws that have unjustly been the cause of over zealous prosecution just to always keep the Cash Cow grazing on the publics "green dollars".

[rhondamt]

This is probably the most ridiculous example of blanketly applying a law that there ever was. Child pornography is a horrible crime, committed by predators who take advantage of innocent young children for their own perverted "gratification." The perpetrators are perverted, their crimes are sickening, and the penalties reflect this.

Sexting, on the other hand, is committed by kids with raging hormones (come on, we all had them at some point) who make some stupid judgment calls. In most cases, they'll come to regret it even if they aren't charged with a crime. Is it right? No. Should it be punished? Perhaps, as some sort of misdemeanor or other typical juvenile crime along the lines of minor vandalism or smoking.

To equate these two crimes on anything close to the same level would require a complete disengagement of the brain and any type of common sense. A child pornographer is someone we need to keep a very close eye on, and protect our society from. A teenage sexter, on the other hand, is a kid who made a stupid judgement call. To call the crimes the same is like equating a kid who steals a candy bar to a seasoned bank robber.