Pearland High School Students Likely to Face Sex Crime Charges for Sexting – Houston Criminal Lawyers
Several high school students in Pearland face criminal charges arising out of “sexting.” According to the Houston Chronicle, the students are accused of sending obscene photographs via cell phones.
All the students involved here are below 17 years of age. What happened here was that one of the students who had broken up with his ex-girlfriend, had nude images of the girl on his cell phone. He sent the images to several of his friends, who then forwarded the images to others. The Pearland School District says that it has a policy in place of turning over obscene or pornographic material found on students cell phones to the police. There’s no information on how many of these pictures were distributed. The students are likely to face charges of distribution of harmful material to a minor. The charges could end in jail time of up to one year or fines of a maximum of $4,000.
Across the country, prosecutors have gone after juveniles for circulating nude images of themselves or others on their cell phones. It is a trend that began ever since cell phones made it so easy for people to take pictures of themselves or others, and distribute these in seconds. Is it the kind of behavior that a parent would like to see a child involved in? No. However, it’s not the kind of action that we believe should warrant any charges for sex crimes either.
It seems to Houston criminal defense lawyers that much of the dust around issues like sexting has still not settled down. Electronic communication technologies are still relatively new, and so is their use/abuse/misuse. The laws have not properly defined these.
What we need are strong laws that protect teenagers from being victims of sexting, without branding juveniles who engage in such practices, as criminals or sexual offenders. Last week, the state of Ohio passed a law that prohibited teenagers from sending lewd images on their cell phones, but bans any criminal charges being filed against teenagers in case of violations. We need similar laws in Texas.
However, we encourage you to talk with your teenage children about the danger and consquences of “sexting.” Although it may not seem that bad, the district attorney’s office will file charges against someone-including juveniles-for “sexting.”
If you or your child has been charged with a criminal offense, contact the experienced lawyers at The Kahn Law Firm today at 713-226-9900 for a free, confidential consultation.
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