Hundreds Of High Schoolers Investigated For Sexting In A Small Michigan Town

MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) - An Upper Peninsula prosecutor says he won't file charges following an investigation into the exchange of sexually explicit images among hundreds of high school students.

Marquette County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Wiese announced Tuesday that exchanging the images via social media could be considered criminal but did not warrant the filing of charges.

Wiese says he's confident that "parents and school officials will give this matter the attention it deserves."

He says school officials, students and parents have cooperated in the investigation by surrendering phones and other electronic devices so the explicit material could be removed.

Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Jay Peterson tells The Marquette Mining Journal the investigation grew to include hundreds of students from six Marquette County school districts.

"Be aware that although the images may seem to disappear from the phone or device, they remain on servers of the social media platform used by students,"  Peterson told the Mining Journal. "My investigation revealed that once the image was released, the student who is depicted lost total control of who else shared that image, where it went, and who could view the image."