Can you get in trouble for sexting?
As you know, sexting is the practice of sending nude or semi-nude pictures of yourself to someone else by cell phone – like texting. It has resulted in serious consequences for some teens. Consider the outcome of Phillip Alpert’s behavior in 2008.
Phillip was an 18-year-old student in Florida when he broke up with his 16-year-old girlfriend. While they were dating, she sent him nude pictures of herself. After breaking up, Phillip became angry and in retaliation, sent the pictures to over 70 people including her parents, grandparents and teachers.
Phillip was charged with sending child pornography and was convicted. He was sentenced in 2008 to five years probation and required to register as a sex offender until he’s 43-years-old. In a 2009 interview, Phillip said that “A lot of my friends have not stood by me . . .people don’t want to talk to me anymore.” Phillip has to attend sex offender meetings and is having trouble finding work.
Photo from MSNBC video
Or consider the tragic outcome of Jessica Logan’s sext message. Jessica was a senior at Sycamore High School in Ohio. She sent a nude picture of herself to her boyfriend. After they broke up, he sent the photos to a few friends and they ended up being viewed by hundreds of students at several schools. The harassment Jesse endured was relentless. She was called a slut and a whore, teased and even had things thrown at her. She became depressed and started skipping school.
Jessica decided to confront the problem by going on local television to tell her story. “I just want to make sure no one else will have to go through this again.” Two months later, on July 3, 2008, Jessica hanged herself in her bedroom closet.
Her mother, Cynthia Logan, has taken up the cause of educating our nation’s youth about the dangers of sexting. In May, 2009, Jessica’s parents filed a lawsuit against the school district and school resource officer for negligence in failing to protect their daughter. Also named in the lawsuit is her ex-boyfriend and four other students for severe infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
Read Jessica’s poem written when she was 17 for a Writer’s Workshop at school called ”The Door That Lies Before You“.
Child pornography is a crime. Whether you send, receive or even possess sexual photos of teenagers or children it is a felony in most states. And it isn’t limited to cell phone texting. Using any form of electronic communication [email, instant messaging, etc.] involving sexual content and minors may have dire consequences. Your life will drastically change if you’re caught violating child pornography laws or new sexting laws being passed in some states.
Because numerous teens have been charged with sexting or possession of child pornography as a result of their school or the police searching their cell phones, know your rights about this issue and when the police can read your text messages.
In an article written for the National Law Journal in July, 2009, Prof. Vivian O. Berger of Columbia Law School commented about sexting: “Momentary recklessness can result in mammoth embarrassment and grave damage to reputation: images virally spread on the Internet carry the potential to scuttle college admissions prospects and job opportunities years later.”
See Prof. Berger’s article “Stop Prosecuting Teens for Sexting” and find out more about this issue.
This post was written by Tom Jacobs. Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including the recently published 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing). When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom can be found hiking, traveling and reading.
thats crazy…
Judge Tom’s response:
Because of the serious consequences of being charged with child pornography, some states are reviewing their statutes. Legislatures in a few states are drafting bills to make sexting a lesser crime [misdemeanor or petty offense]. Bottom line – be careful about what you send to cyberspace – it’s forever and may backfire even though your intentions weren’t criminal.
i feel sorry for jessica and my thoughts are with the family, i have a sister that killed herself due to bullying of her appearnace and the things she has done…its never fair to see someone get treatd that way
Thanks for your comments, Jennie. We’re sorry to hear about your sister.
Sexting is just totally unacceptable I’m sorry for ur loss
Parents…talk to your kids about safe cell phone use! Sharing cell phone photos is never private so don't take risks! http://fb.me/GlqsUPmW
@slcjc Thx for the tweet! Parents…talk to your kids about safe cell phone use! Sharing photos is never private … http://fb.me/GlqsUPmW
[...] you know, sexting has become a huge issue in recent years resulting in tragic endings for some teenagers and [...]
I think sexting is becoming a huge problem (much like how this article pointed out the consiquences) and I think its a shame that the girls life had to end the way it did. I am sorry for your loss and I think they need to continue finding affective ways to go against sexting.
Thank you for your comments, James.
If you don’t ask for nude pics and someone sending them too you..Can they get in trouble for them and the person is over the age of 18
Dear Jenny: If you are a minor and the person sending you the sexted photos is over 18, it’s possible that they could be facing penalties under your state’s laws. Try Googling your state’s name and “sexting law” for further information. However, if both parties involved are adults and both consented to the sending and receiving of the photos, then it’s unlikely that there would be any criminal charges for such an incident. Good luck.
(This is information only – not legal advice.)
wat do u do if u sexted and someone is threatening u with the pictures
Dear Diamond: Good question – this happens fairly often once you’ve sent out sexualized photos. You didn’t mention your age, but if you’re a teenager, tell your parents immediately. As embarrassing as it may be, don’t keep this to yourself. Your parents can intervene on your behalf and hopefully put an end to this. The school administration should be notified if the person threatening to use the photos against you also goes to the same school. Depending on the circumstances, your parents may also want to report this to the police. Think long and hard before you send out any more photos. Sexting can seriously backfire on you and your family. Good luck.
(This is information only – not legal advice).
If both parties are at least 18 years of age and are both consensual so the sending/ receiving of the nude photos would it not be protected by the 1st amendment.
Dear Anthony: Yes, but you need to be careful about the transmission to and from each other. If, for example, you sent a photo assuming it’s going to an intended person, but she doesn’t have her phone (left it somewhere or with someone else) and a third party receives it and forwards it on to others, civil or criminal laws make come into play. Innocently exchanged photos have led to blackmail, threats and other crimes after a relationship ends. This has happened and in one case, led to the suicide of a 13-year-old girl in Florida. As you know, once you hit send, you can’t get it back and you have no control where it will end up. We recommend that minors, because of these dangers and the total loss of control over the images once sent, not engage in sexting. All the best.
(This is information only – not legal advice).
We’ve been learning about “sexting” in my school and It has brought a question in my mind. If I received a sext photo and I didn’t even want it do I still get charged?If we are both 17. If I don’t even ask for one and they send me one anyways will I still be in trouble and what should I do? I gotta be prepared for the future just incase any of this stuff ever happens.
Dear JJ25: That’s an excellent question. It’s going to depend on the specific laws in your state and whether or not your state has enacted a law to specifically address sexting. It’s possible that even being the recipient of a sext could be a criminal act, but most states are not focused on prosecuting the recipient as long as he/she did not forward the sext or share it with anyone else. Because you don’t want to have any possible criminal images on your phone, it would be best to delete the photos and definitely not share them with anyone. However, you may want to tell your parents or another adult you trust if you are put in this situation. Thanks for asking.
(This is information only – not legal advice.)
im 17 and last year i sexted my bf cuz he pressured me into doing it… i feel so bad and i have no idea what i should do. he said he deleted it but im worried that something bad will happen. is there anyway i can fix this? because i dont think ignoring it will make it go away
Dear Cameron: As you know, once you hit “send”, an image, text, etc. could potentially be out there forever. First, you may want to sit down and have a serious conversation with your boyfriend about this and that you are uncomfortable with what you did. Perhaps he can show you his phone and that the picture has been deleted. You may want to talk to your parents about it as well, as emabarrassing as it may be, because they could help you address the matter. Otherwise, consider talking to the school counselor or another adult you trust. It sounds like you have learned from this and will not be sexting in the future as there can be unintended consequences. Take care and good luck.
(This is information only – not legal advice.)
me and my girlfriend are both 17, we keep are sexual life 100% private. I have a question if we sext and tell no one and delete the picture afterwords is there anyway of an outsider such as the government or the police find out ?
Dear Chris: The general answer is that, yes, there is always a way a third person can come across the photos you and your girlfriend exchange. Once you hit “send” the picture is out there for the world to see. In the event you break up, one of you could share the photos with others. Then they can spread across the Internet at lightening speed. One teen we wrote about sent a sext to his girlfriend, but she didn’t have her phone with her at the time. Her girlfriend had it, saw the picture and shared it with others. Not to mention the anti-sexting laws that exist in some states. Think about this before posting any sexually explicit photos. Good luck.
(This is information only – not legal advice).
Hello,
I sent some nude pics of my exgrilfriend to her husband this past weekend thru facebook while i was in Vegas. She was ligaly married to him while we were dating and we always shared nude pics with eachother. Im i in trouble if they go to the law? i never would have done this but now that its done, i have to stand for what i did.
Dear George: What you’ve done may be illegal, but it depends on the laws of the state where this happened. Some states have laws against sexting making it either a felony or misdemeanor. You can Google the name of the state where you did this and “sexting laws” for information. Think before doing this again. As tempting as it may be, once you hit “send” it’s out there forever and can come back to bite you. Good luck.
(This is information only – not legal advice).