Teenager gets criminal record for sexting pic of herself
Discussion
I've posted this in SPL, because this is a stupid law, which results in ordinary teenagers getting criminal records for sending pics of themselves to their boyfriend or girlfriend.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10983...
A schoolgirl has received a police caution after texting an explicit photograph of herself to her boyfriend, it has emerged.
The teenager sent the image via her phone, but after the couple had a row, he forwarded it to his friends.
Police were called in because she was under the age of 18 and therefore both were committing an offence of distributing an indecent image of a child.
Both received a caution but police are now warning other teenagers they could end up on the sex offenders register if they send explicit pictures of themselves via text messages or social media.
Nottinghamshire Police has sent letters to all schools in the county, saying it has “grave concerns” about the craze of “sexting”.
If there is a sexting "craze" then that means a lot of teenagers are doing it. Which means a lot of them can end up with criminal records and placed on the sex offenders register. Now posting nude pics of yourself which could be used against you later is a bad idea, but not as bad an idea of the state criminalising thousands of ordinary teenagers for doing it.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10983...
A schoolgirl has received a police caution after texting an explicit photograph of herself to her boyfriend, it has emerged.
The teenager sent the image via her phone, but after the couple had a row, he forwarded it to his friends.
Police were called in because she was under the age of 18 and therefore both were committing an offence of distributing an indecent image of a child.
Both received a caution but police are now warning other teenagers they could end up on the sex offenders register if they send explicit pictures of themselves via text messages or social media.
Nottinghamshire Police has sent letters to all schools in the county, saying it has “grave concerns” about the craze of “sexting”.
==
If there is a sexting "craze" then that means a lot of teenagers are doing it. Which means a lot of them can end up with criminal records and placed on the sex offenders register. Now posting nude pics of yourself which could be used against you later is a bad idea, but not as bad an idea of the state criminalising thousands of ordinary teenagers for doing it.
Edited by creampuff on Wednesday 23 July 20:54
Telegraph article said:
Police were called in...
Telegraph article said:
But he was also cautioned by police when the image was reported to officers...
And there you go. People are happy to report it when it goes wrong but not accept the consequences. The national tone is more like this:
Lincolnshire article said:
A Lincolnshire Police spokesperson said: “We would ultimately try to avoid criminalising children wherever possible and aim to educate them in order in order to protect them from harm.
But quoting those sort of things doesn't make for good headlines. If you report someone (assuming she reported her BF when he distributed the pictures), then you expose yourself to the risk of a disposal for committing an offence aid down in statute. Don't want that risk? Don't report it.
I don't agree those over the age of consent should face any sanctions, but I didn't write the sexual offences act and I can't pick and choose which parts I apply. That's something for parliament to take care of.
A child caution (used to be called a reprimand / warning) is the lowest disposal and is immediately spent IIRC.
I don't agree those over the age of consent should face any sanctions, but I didn't write the sexual offences act and I can't pick and choose which parts I apply. That's something for parliament to take care of.
A child caution (used to be called a reprimand / warning) is the lowest disposal and is immediately spent IIRC.
creampuff said:
The state really has no business criminalising teenagers for this.
I totally agree. At least not the sender. I'm not sure someone maliciously distributing should escape criminal sanction.
It should be in line with the age of consent. Adult / child age can be inconsistent through different legislation and needs a tidy-up. Hopefully there'll be some national guidelines to allow the police to pretty much void any obligatory action.
La Liga said:
creampuff said:
The state really has no business criminalising teenagers for this.
I totally agree. At least not the sender. I'm not sure someone maliciously distributing should escape criminal sanction.
It should be in line with the age of consent. Adult / child age can be inconsistent through different legislation and needs a tidy-up. Hopefully there'll be some national guidelines to allow the police to pretty much void any obligatory action.
It is all a mess.
They can legally have sex, but not send booby pics.
Am I right that the caution will be cleared when she hits 18?
I would guess in the next few months/years there will be a bit if a change in sentencing guidelines or laws that give some exemption for kids sending pics of themselves.
There's an obvious difference between a bit of sexting compared to images of child abuse.
They can legally have sex, but not send booby pics.
Am I right that the caution will be cleared when she hits 18?
I would guess in the next few months/years there will be a bit if a change in sentencing guidelines or laws that give some exemption for kids sending pics of themselves.
There's an obvious difference between a bit of sexting compared to images of child abuse.
Snowboy said:
It is all a mess.
They can legally have sex, but not send booby pics.
Indeed. They can bang the sThey can legally have sex, but not send booby pics.
t out of each other at 16 but heaven forbid they should record the encounter in any way. Crazy.Another example of laws not keeping pace with technology, combined with kids doing more at a younger age these days.
fangio said:
And if your under-age daughter was sharing her naked body with the world, how would you feel? Would you know?
Give me a numerical figure for under-age. I've already said it should be in-line with the age of consent from a criminal point of view, which is what we're talking about. If anything, the boy should be punished.
Sending those pics to mates after they split up is wrong.
Not necessarily 'child abuse' wrong, but wrong based on revenge porn principles
I think there are laws coming in about it.
That said, a bit if boobage is quite mild in the grand scheme of things.
It would certainly be overkill to send the kid to jail or put him on the sex offenders register for it.
Sending those pics to mates after they split up is wrong.
Not necessarily 'child abuse' wrong, but wrong based on revenge porn principles
I think there are laws coming in about it.
That said, a bit if boobage is quite mild in the grand scheme of things.
It would certainly be overkill to send the kid to jail or put him on the sex offenders register for it.
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