'We Don't Want to Throw These Kids in Jail, but We Want Them to Think'

Another sexting-as-child-porn case, this one in Massachusetts. It involves "a boy who took a nude photo of his 13-year-old girlfriend and texted it to his friends." The six boys under investigation are 12 to 14. The boyfriend sounds like a dick, but this surely is not the sort of situation legislators had in mind when they made possession and distribution of child pornography a felony. A prosecutor in Allen County, Indiana, where a teenage boy "is facing felony obscenity charges for allegedly sending a photo of his private parts to several female classmates," offers A.P. the usual rationale: We're doing these kids a favor by bringing charges, because it will encourage them to be more discreet. As he puts it, "We don't want to throw these kids in jail, but we want them to think." Refreshingly, an Ohio school principal tells A.P. "pornography charges or other felonies are not appropriate, noting that 'the laws have not caught up to technology.'"

My previous post on this issue, including links to earlier coverage, is here.

[Thanks to Phil Obbard for the tip.]