NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla- A Pasco County eighth grader faces felony child pornography charges after deputies say he posted a nude picture of a 13-year-old girl on Facebook. Deputies said the 14-year-old boy had been exchanging pictures on an app but became angry when the girl stopped sending explicit photos.
The girl, meanwhile told investigators she never expected to see those photos made public. The suspect’s mother, who said this was a case of two kids arguing and said that it shouldn’t have made escalated into adult felony charges. She also said the girl is partly to blame for sending the nude photos in the first place. Full Article
Well—
1) the boy committed a felony because he posted the pictures. Even possessing them is a felony.
2) the girl committed a felony because she took the pictures—-which are considered child pornography—and distributed them to the boy.
That is the way the law sees the matter.
In our current society with its hysteria over sex, people react as if it was a contagious, always fatal disease which people must be protected from at all costs.
I have a different view. It is all innocuous. Let them off with a stern warning and a demand for a different standard of behavior in the future.
It’s more about money and control on the Internet. Social media generates profits by rewarding teens and younger to fervently promote products in exchange for likes (see PBS, Frontline reportable “Generation Like”), The whole system collapses if some of the players start doing things online, the corporations can’t (legally) make money off of. Therefore the offender’s lives are discarded, no matter what their ages, because they threaten the game. They are being made examples of.
I’m sorry, I just got to say it. Children are stupid. That’s why God created parents. The problem is that too many parents are lazy idiots who want society to do their job. Stop buying $500 camera phones and webcam laptops for children who don’t have the control or maturity to use them. Duh. They call them “SMART PHONES”. Ha! The phones are smarter than the user. Children used to talk on the phone all the time. The big reason for them texting all the time instead is so they can do and discuss things they know they shouldn’t in public (even when the parents are right there) without being caught. I have never been involved with the stupid social media (Facebook, myspace, blogging, twitter, instagram, etc.) because I thought it was just for self-centered needy kids. I got a “real” life and I’m not interested in the trivial “he said – she said” gossip. Yes, I know corporate America is now using these systems to market and make billions. It wasn’t an accident that Facebook used the phrase, “LIKE ME”. Children are humans, and all humans have the same wants, and emotions as adults. The problem is that these desires in young folks are more intense because they are stuffed into a smaller body. Children haven’t been “pure and innocent” for decades. Both kids knew what they were doing. He was hot for her body and she gave him access. In the old days it was called playing doctor. What the kids did that was major stupid is make the exchange in public. Don’t put anything in writing, don’t put anything on tape, and keep you private business, private. The only ones who need to see your goodies are your parents (till you can bathe yourself), your doctor, and your husband or wife. I’m sure if the tech geeks can create programs (or APPS) that allow you to send photos, they can create something that requires a parent’s password to unlock the feature. Or, don’t give a device to a child that has the capability. By eliminating the texting feature we would force people to actually behave like people. Talk with or visit your “real” friends, in person if possible. Hey, if it is illegal to sell spray paint to anyone under 18 years old, why not make it illegal for someone under 18 to buy or have a phone (or webcam laptop) with texting/picture/video sharing capabilities. This makes it easier for lazy parents, protects the kids, frees up the legal system, and forces people to be better people. Of course, the smart phone/webcam industry that makes a killing on selling camera phones and webcams would lose a gazillion dollars, so it probably won’t happen. No one should send nude pictures to anyone (adult to adult, child to child, adult to child, or child to adult) via any means, especially electronically. That is permanent! Maybe by treating (BOTH) of the kids in this story (the girl is equally guilty of sending images) the same as anyone else (adults), maybe the lawmakers will have to reevaluate the whole law to make it fair all the way around. On a side note, little boys (and every other male) don’t need the extra stress. Parents, stop dressing your girls like hookers and sending them out in public. I bet 99% of those wearing yoga pants don’t do yoga! That 14 year old boy could have gotten the same cheap thrill from these things that are as close to being naked as you can get! Society is made of people and people are complex. We’re always going to have issues and more questions than answers. Do what you can to make life better, and be at peace with the rest. All is Well in the Kingdom of SWY.