Last week, two Indiana middle school students were caught sending each other nude images of themselves via text message. In a crazy illustration of how sex offender registries can do more harm than good, the kids were actually charged with child exploitation and possession of child pornography. And if juvenile courts go forward with these felony charges, these 12- and 13-year-olds could both be registering as sex offenders for years.
This overreaction is a perfect example of how sex offender registries have grown out of control. These charges aren’t just a question of teaching the kids a lesson, but instead are also likely to destroy their opportunities for a long time.
The prosecutor in the Indiana case said he understands that this case likely sprung from a mutual youthful curiosity, but that county pressed charges because “sexting” can lead to images spreading quickly on the web.
“I think there has always been a sort of, you show me yours and I’ll show you mine, and a curiosity there,” Porter County, Ind., Prosecutor Brian Gensel said. “The problem now is the stakes are so much higher because if a juvenile sends a picture of themselves to someone else, well, that can be disseminated now to the entire world within minutes.”
He’s right that sending these images digitally is a potentially dangerous mistake and a growing problem. A recent Pew Center study found that 4% of children between ages 12 and 17 admitted to sending nude or nearly nude images, and 15% say that they’ve received them.
Prosecutors in this case made a grievous error, however, in charging the tweens with felonies. Curious kids going through puberty shouldn’t be criminalized. That line should be drawn as soon as an intent to distribute can be determined. From the basic facts we have, it doesn’t seem that this boy and girl are guilty of ‘child exploitation.’
Sexting charges like this are similar to the “Romeo and Juliet” statutory rape charges that have placed so many teens on sex offender registries across the country. These cases dilute any power the registry might have in warning communities about people who are actually dangerous, and it destroys lives for no reason. In recent years, sex offender hysteria has lowered the average age of registries by including thousands of kids for crimes like sexting.
Sexting is a serious problem, but criminalizing kids isn’t the way to solve it.
Via @radleybalko
Photo Credit: Cyrillicus