“A lot of juveniles do not recognize the fact that this is child pornography — even if they’re images of themselves, it still is child pornography,” Smith said.
Students younger than 18 caught taking or receiving pictures of themselves can be charged with felony charges of pandering sexually oriented materials involving minors and could be required to register as a sex offender if they are found guilty, Smith said.
Clark County law enforcement asked the prosecutor’s office to help spread the message that sexting is a crime when it involves minors and about what consequences students could face.
Stop Texting Obscene Pictures is an educational and diversion program the prosecutor’s office and Clark County Juvenile Court created in response.
Prosecutors first want to get the STOP message out to students and parents that minors sexting is illegal and has serious penalties, Smith said.
Many students use text messages, social media or apps on smart phones to take and send the photos, she said.
“If we don’t talk about it, it’s certainly not going to get better,” Smith send.
Many school districts already talk to students about consequences of misusing technology, said Stacy Parr, director of technology and information systems at the Springfield City School District.
Springfield schools stepped up technology talks with students and parents after the district started to provide laptops to students class for take-home purposes this year, she said.
“We know that sexting not just happens with a phone but happens through social media, with messenger services, so we knew it was something we had to talk about this year with devices going home,” Parr said.
The prosecutor’s office created an informational video about the legal consequences of texting and sent schools a letter to go home with students from Prosecutor Andy Wilson and Clark County Juvenile Court Judge Joseph Monnin about the STOP program now offered to minors caught texting.
The STOP diversion program screens applicants, who if chosen could go through a period of diversion that includes forfeiting social media accounts, cell phones and going through social media training, she said. If minors complete the program successfully, any criminal charges related to the sexting case are dismissed.
Some states are changing sexting laws involving minors. Florida lawmakers recently created a new law that sexting between minors is no longer a felony. First-time offenders there are given a non-criminal citation, must pay a fine and do community service or take an eight-hour online class to clear the violation.
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