On April 15, police in Yucaipa announced that four 15-year-old boys had been cited with multiple counts of possession of obscene matter depicting a person under 18 and for sexual exploitation of a child. The first-offense penalty for possessing obscene matters depicting a person under 18 is up to three years in state prison, a $2,500 fine, or both. The first-offense penalty for sexual exploitation of a child is up to a year in jail, a $2,000 fine, or both.
These offenses were stemmed from "sexting," - sexually explicit text messages. In this case, the boys posted nude and seminude photos of classmates, obtained via text messages, on the Internet. The pictures were taken voluntarily by several 14- and 15-year-old girls and were initially sent only to friends. An unknown party forwarded them to other recipients.
Although there are serious social repercussions to sexting, just what criminal consequences should be imposed on teens involved in the activity is the subject of intense debate nationwide.
While the charges suggested for the four Yucaipa teens are quite serious, California and a number of other states have charged teens with creation of child pornography for sexting involving nude photography of underage teens. A conviction on that charge in California could result in up to three years in prison, a $2,500 fine, and lifetime registration as a sex offender. Last year, an 18-year-old student was convicted of child pornography and sentenced to probation - but also to lifetime registration as a sex offender - when he forwarded nude photos of his 16-year-old girlfriend to her friends and family after an argument.
"This country needs to have a discussion about whether prosecuting minors as child pornographers for merely being impulsive and naive is the appropriate way to address the serious consequences that can result from sexting," argues Witold Walczack, the ACLU's legal director in Pennsylvania.
On the whole, state legislatures appear to agree. In the past two years, 16 states have considered bills regulating sexting by teens. Fifteen of those bills have created new misdemeanor or status offenses covering the behavior, most with the express intention of preventing prosecutors from having to charge teens with child pornography offenses.
The four Yucaipa boys have been referred for prosecution but have not yet been charged. Few would deny the serious social consequences their behavior had on their classmates and the harm it brought to their own reputations. However, charging the boys with sexual exploitation of a child could put California at odds with the growing consensus that sexting reflects poor judgment by high school students - not sexually predatory behavior requiring felony charges.
