jill of all tirades

There have been a recent rash of child pornography cases hitting the newsstands recently, and they all have one unique thing in common.  The people being accused of distributing or possessing the porn are under the age of 18.  The recent case of 3 girls “sexting” pictures of themselves to 3 guys and being charged with child pornography are just one example of this new trend.  Let me clarify, I do not think that taking nude pictures and giving them to someone special is a new thing that teenagers have just discovered (I am not that dense!); but the ubiquitous nature of cell phones, et cetera, make it possible to send these pictures without that day of thinking about whether it is a good idea while you wait for the pictures to get developed.  As a recent CiscoFatty reminded me, the availability of the internet to today’s youth (and not so youth) is one less barrier between the stupid things that they say and do and the rest of the world.

OK, other than the fact that teen do stupid things; I do not think that these girls and guys should be labeled as sex-offenders for life because of this.  I think that the title of sex-offender is in excess of the crime that was committed by the sexters.  I also find it ironic that another 17 year old girl that was found to be sending pictures of herself to her boyfriend might be tried as an adult.  If she is tried as an adult, doesn’t this mean that she is not a child, and therefore it is not child porn?  Hmmmm, logic strikes again! I think that these cases are something to watch because they will set the precedent for future court cases.

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