The Center on Youth Registration Reform aims to eliminate the practice of placing children on sex offender registries in the United States. Using a zealous, unwavering, yet tactical strategy, the Center works to confront the fears and misconceptions about children that drove our country to include them in sex offender registration schemes, and transform the paradigm of how the criminal justice system responds to child sexual behavior. Full Article
Read MoreTag: Juveniles
NE: Older teens not the only ones caught sexting
The young couple had dated a year and a half when their relationship was exposed. He was 15 and she was 14, and they were exchanging nude pictures and videos of themselves through their cellphones. But the private exchanges would not stay confidential. Earlier this year, Bellevue school officials found images on the boy’s phone. Then Bellevue police got involved, carrying out a search warrant to go through the teen’s phone over a concern about Child Pornography. Full Article
Read MoreStates Slowly Scale Back Juvenile Sex Offender Registries
After years of establishing and strengthening sex offender registries, some states are rethinking policies allowing juveniles to be placed on them. In states such as Oregon and Delaware, lawmakers have given judges more power to review who goes on the registry. In Pennsylvania, courts have ended lifetime registration for juveniles. Full Article
Read MoreTeen sexting is definitely a problem, but a felony?
True or false: Your teen could be convicted of a felony and be labeled as a sex offender — for life — if he or she has sexted photos of classmates? The answer is “True” if your kid lives in one of the many states, like Colorado, that doesn’t have laws specifically addressing teens who sext. Why bring up the Rocky Mountain state? Earlier this week, it was revealed that an unspecified number of Cañon City High School students had been suspended for using their smartphones to share explicit photos of…
Read MoreCO: District Attorneys support legislation for charge lesser than child pornography for sexting
News5 is looking into proposed legislation that could change how teens are punished for sexting. Felony child pornography charges are not off the table for students implicated in the Canon City scandal. We spoke with the President of the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council who says a new law is needed to properly prosecute juveniles caught sexting. Full Article Related CO: Canon City High School Sexting Scandal – Will Students Involved Be Registered Sex Offenders?
Read MoreFL: Eighth Grader Disciplined For Giving Hug To Friend At School
____ ____, 14, is now an eighth grader with a record. ____ was given suspension by Jackson Heights principal Sarah Mansur-Blythe (left) for a hug. That’s right. She hugged a friend who was having a bad day and was immediately reported for discipline under a hopelessly undefined prohibition on “inappropriate or obscene acts.” Full Article
Read MoreCO: Students in sexting scandal could face felony charges
Colorado parents are outraged and concerned as school district officials reveal new details on the “large scale” sexting scandal at Canon City High School. The school district says the scandal involves an equal number of boys and girls — including some who are only in eighth grade – who could face felony charges. This is forcing parents and administrators to re-evaluate how they monitor teen activity in a high-tech world, reports CBS News correspondent Carter Evans. At an emergency meeting Thursday night, concerned parents learned that possibly hundreds of students…
Read MoreJustice Can Be Served Without Putting Kids Behind Bars
Last month, the Seattle City Council resolved to end the practice of putting young lawbreakers behind bars. Resolution 31614, which passed unanimously, is a commitment to “eliminate the need to detain or incarcerate youth” by cutting off the “school-to-prison pipeline” and finding alternatives to incarceration. Full Article
Read MoreIs sexting the new first base?
A study by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that sexual texts are considered the new normal for young people. Local law enforcement say a growing number are pre-teens. Full Article
Read MoreWI: Teen sexting in Wisconsin is popular, criminal (Opinion)
In Wisconsin, if your teenager is “sexting” with other teens, he or she could end up being convicted of possession of child pornography (or numerous other sex crimes), sent to prison and placed on the sex offender registry. Sexting is sending sexually explicit digital photos or videos to another person via cell phone or the Internet. It is the latest “craze” among teens and it’s popular in Wisconsin. According to research from TeenSafe.com, over 70 percent of teens admit to sexting with their boyfriends or girlfriends. Full Article
Read MoreMD: Retroactive registration of juvenile sex offenders OK’d
A juvenile court did not violate a convicted teenager’s constitutional rights by requiring him to register as a sex offender, though he committed the sexual assault before the registry’s enactment, a Maryland appeals court held Tuesday. Article with Paywall Appeals Court Decision
Read MoreMO: Supreme Court weighing adult sex offender registration for youth
The Missouri Supreme Court heard a case Wednesday that could have wide-ranging effects on children accused of serious sexual crimes. The case involves a troubled, developmentally delayed 14-year-old St. Louis boy accused of sexually assaulting his 41-year-old adoptive sister. But it also could challenge the state’s little-known juvenile sex offender registry, and the juvenile court’s ability to place children on the adult registry. Full Article
Read MoreThe social costs of juveniles on sex-offender registries far outweigh benefits
The net social cost of applying sex-offender registration and notification laws to those who commit offenses as juveniles could be as high as $3 billion a year, with most of those costs incurred by neighbors of registered offenders, according to a new benefit-cost analysis from the R Street Institute. Full Article Related The costs and benefits of subjecting juveniles to sex-offender registration and notification – Full Report (pdf)
Read MoreNC: just prosecuted a teenage couple for making child porn — of themselves
Is it possible to sexually exploit one’s self? That question is one of many conundrums in the recent case of a teenage North Carolina couple charged with making and distributing child pornography. Their alleged crime: snapping and sending nude photos — of themselves. Full Article
Read MoreMD: Boy Faces Assault Charges For Kiss Made On A Dare
PIKESVILLE, Md. (WBFF) — Baltimore County Police and Baltimore County school officials responded to a report of assault involving two eighth-grade students at Pikesville Middle School on Wednesday. School officials took a report regarding a 13-year-old boy who kissed a 14-year-old girl during school hours. The unwanted kiss was allegedly the result of a dare made by students. Full Article
Read MoreTeens Who Take Nude Photos Of Themselves Can Still Be Treated As Sex Offenders
WASHINGTON — A teenage boy in North Carolina might have to register as a sex offender if he’s convicted of keeping nude photos he took of himself on his phone, as well as a picture of his girlfriend. His case has drawn national scrutiny, but North Carolina’s controversial law isn’t unique. In many states, prosecutors can technically slam teenagers who snap naked selfies with child porn-related charges — regardless if the photos were shared or not. Full Article Related The insane logic of sexting prosecutions
Read MoreNC: Teen Boy Will Be Charged As Adult For Having Naked Pics of a Minor: Himself
A North Carolina 17-year-old caught in a sexting scandal faces charges of sexually exploiting a minor that could land him in jail for up to 10 years, since the law considers him an adult. But one of the minors he supposedly exploited is himself—which raises an obvious question: how can a teen be old enough to face adult felony charges, but not old enough to keep a nude picture of himself on his phone? Full Article
Read MoreNM: Farmington therapist’s practice offers juvenile sex offenders a second chance
FARMINGTON — A Farmington therapist stands by her belief that young people who commit sex offenses are worthy of a second chance at a healthy, normal life. Full Article
Read More