Police Investigating 12 Virginia Students for Sexting, Could Charge Them With Possessing Child Porn

[Seal]

Quote

 

Police are investigating as many as a dozen teenagers at two separate schools in Falls Church, Virginia, as part of an ever-widening sexting inquiry.

Police seized five cell phones and have recovered multiple "explicit images" that students shared with each other on Snapchat and via text messages, according to The Washington Post.

 

The investigation began when Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School's school resource officer—the cop charged with keeping the peace on campus—learned that students had been filming fights and possibly circulating nude photos. One cell photo led him to another, and another, and another:

 

The second male student said the latter photo was of a ninth-grader at George Mason High School in Falls Church and told police he received it from a third male student at Henderson, according to the search warrant.

That led police to a third male student, who told investigators that the ninth-grader exposed her breasts during a live Instagram session and he took an image of it, the warrant says. The third male student admitted to sending that image to the second male student and another male student at Henderson.

 

Obviously, someone needs to talk to these kids about respecting other people's privacy, and explain to them that pictures shared on Snapchat don't magically disappear. To the extent that the illicit activity undermines social cohesion in school, or contributes to bullying, administrators can discipline the kids involved—though they should keep in mind that the point of punishment is to teach the kids to lead more responsible lives, not to ruin said lives.

Unfortunately, police involvement could lead to some very bad outcomes:

 

Under Virginia law, teens who sext can be prosecuted using the state's child porn charge, a felony that carries a minimum five-year sentence. In practice, however, such cases more often end with a plea to a lesser charge.

 

Even lesser charges can have life-altering consequences for young people, making it harder for them to get into college, find jobs, or even form healthy relationships with other teens. We shouldn't turn kids into pariahs for engaging in incredibly common, age-appropriate—if undesirable—behavior.

 

Virginia police have a history of pursuing teen sexting cases with misguided zealotry. In 2014, police in northern Virginia sought—and obtained—a warrant to give a teenage boy an erection so that they could photograph it and compare it with the evidence they had already gathered. One of the officers involved later committed suicide after he was accused of sexually abusing minors.

 

It's well worth asking, then, whether the police should really be in the business of collecting sexually explicit images of teenagers as part of an effort to hold them criminally accountable. It doesn't seem like the best use of the cops' time, and it's definitely not what's best for the teens.

 

 

How many kids lives need to be destroyed before people start teaching them the never talk to cops?

It's not difficult. Tell them they can say "hello" to a cop, but as soon as the cop starts asking questions, shut the **** up and walk away...If the cop tries to stop you, ask him this: "Am I being detained?"

If you're not being detained then leave. If you are being detained then the only thing you say is: "I want a lawyer."

 

And FFS, teach them to never consent to a search. And make sure they know that cops are trained to make these search "requests", sound a lot like orders.

If a cop says something like "I need to see your phone", that's a request as far as the courts are concerned and giving him your phone will be considered voluntary...The correct response is "I don't consent to any searches".

[bospa357]

So you support kiddie porn in favor of being illegally detained because being detained is such a serious issue. 

[Seal]

1 min ago, bospa357 said:

So you support kiddie porn in favor of being illegally detained because being detained is such a serious issue. 

What?

[Seal]

This is what happens when you teach your kids to trust police.
 

Quote

 

...The school resource officer interviewed the male student, who said he had sent his then-girlfriend a photo of his penis taken with his phone, according to the search warrant. In an interview, the girl told police she had sent a nude image of herself to the boyfriend.

 

After the pair had broken up, the ex-girlfriend sent the image of the male student’s penis to a second male student via Snapchat, according to the search warrant.

 

The school resource officer interviewed the second male student, who said that after he received the photo he posted it on Snapchat for about 10 minutes, according to the search warrant. The second male student told investigators that other students may have taken images of the photo while it was posted on the social media site.

 

After removing it from Snapchat, the second male student sent the penis photo to another female student, according to the search warrant. The school resource officer searched the second male student’s phone with his consent and found the penis photo, along with an image of a female’s bare breasts.

 

The second male student said the latter photo was of a ninth-grader at George Mason High School in Falls Church and told police he received it from a third male student at Henderson, according to the search warrant.

 

That led police to a third male student, who told investigators that the ninth-grader exposed her breasts during a live Instagram session and he took an image of it, the warrant says. The third male student admitted to sending that image to the second male student and another male student at Henderson.

 

Investigators then interviewed the ninth-grade student at George Mason, who admitted that she made a video exposing her breasts. When her phone was searched, investigators found an explicit video of a male ninth-grader at George Mason, according to the search warrant...

 

 

I bet these kids won't trust cops any more. But it's a little late now.

[Dave588]

3 mins ago, bospa357 said:

So you support kiddie porn in favor of being illegally detained because being detained is such a serious issue. 

Any plea of that nature causes kid to get on a sex-offender registry. The images need to have a built in timer to delete itself. 

[Brother Brian]

Pics? 

[Terry Mac]

if being creepy was a sport Seal could make the olympic team. 

[looney tunes]

32 mins ago, Brother Brian said:

Pics? 

Tits please, hold the dick.

[Gotcow?]

SEE, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET A BOOB LOOSE ON THE INTERNET.

Seal makes threads like this.

[bospa357]

2 hours ago, Seal said:

What?

Kiddie porn is ok with you but police detaining people is an egregious violation of civil rights. **** you!

[Seal]

1 min ago, bospa357 said:

Kiddie porn is ok with you but police detaining people is an egregious violation of civil rights. **** you!

Hell, I don't even think a boob/dick pic is even "porn".

[ByronPA]

1 min ago, bospa357 said:

Kiddie porn is ok with you but police detaining people is an egregious violation of civil rights. **** you!

I'm not sticking up for Seal, and I'm really not, at least not now. But, if a 15 yo girl sends a pic of her tits to a 15yo boy, is she guilty of distributing child porn? Is the boy guilty of receiving child porn? Should they be arrested and charged with the crimes? According to the law, the answer is yes. According to many on here, the answer is yes. But I'm not so sure...

[Seal]

That's the problem with the "I know it when I see it" standard...Another way to say the same thing would be "it is, if I say it is".

[Seal]

3 mins ago, ByronPA said:

I'm not sticking up for Seal, and I'm really not, at least not now. But, if a 15 yo girl sends a pic of her tits to a 15yo boy, is she guilty of distributing child porn? Is the boy guilty of receiving child porn? Should they be arrested and charged with the crimes? According to the law, the answer is yes. According to many on here, the answer is yes. But I'm not so sure...

It's really gonna get interesting as the "Free the Nipple" campaign gains steam...If women can go topless, I'm sure it won't just apply to those who are 18 and over.

[bospa357]

38 mins ago, ByronPA said:

I'm not sticking up for Seal, and I'm really not, at least not now. But, if a 15 yo girl sends a pic of her tits to a 15yo boy, is she guilty of distributing child porn? Is the boy guilty of receiving child porn? Should they be arrested and charged with the crimes? According to the law, the answer is yes. According to many on here, the answer is yes. But I'm not so sure...

Ok, so how do you distinguish that scenario vs someone like Seal snapping a pic of an underage girls tits?