2019 Jan;64(1):88-97. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.12923. Sexting is the sending or forwarding of sexually explicit photographs or videos of the sender or someone known to the sender via cell phone. Some people like to use sexting as an expression of their sexuality, but it's important to be aware of the risks involved so that you can be fully informed before deciding to press send. Those same teenagers, unless prosecuted, would be clueless that their conduct falls within the parameters of the Sexual Abuse of Children statute. There is no clear national consensus on how sexting by minors is adjudicated, and therefore we compared several statutes. Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas. We thank Ken Stalter, JD, for his valuable research contributions. Careers. Sex online: pornography, sexual solicitation, and sexting. Ohio 2011), Logan v. Sycamore Cnty. Females receive more sexts than males. Investigation into effective forms of treatment for minors with emotional damage caused by sexting would help inform the forensic mental health professional about the best treatment recommendations. Child pornography laws were enacted long before smartphones came into existence. 2016 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Sexting, often defined as an individual sharing sexually explicit images (Judge, 2012), is a topic that has recently gained For example, in Georgia, the possessor must be age 18 years or younger, the teen depicted must be at least age 14 years, consent must exist, and there can be no distribution. Renee Ferguson is given eight months' home detention and will be forced to relocate back to Tasmania for stealing over $5,000 in cricket membership fees. Copyright American Academy of Pediatrics. States may offer expanded free speech protection for sexting under their own state constitutions. If the sexually explicit image was of a child under 12, felony charges were generally brought. Most of the cases did not fit the criteria of being exclusively between minors. As of July 2015, 20 states have passed laws related to sexting.8 Four states (Hawaii, New York, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota) enacted legislation in 2012. He pleaded no contest and was ordered to register as a sex offender in Florida until age 43 and to attend sex offender treatment classes. Traditionally, government has always had a compelling interest in protecting minors, but only using the least restrictive means necessary.68 Fears that sexting represents an increased sexualization of teens in society do not appear justified because sexual intercourse and certain risky sexual behaviors have actually decreased over the last 2 decades.60 There are 22 million 13- to 17-year-olds in the United States.69 Smartphone ownership or access now stands at 95% of all teens, a 22% increase from 2014 to 2015 according to the most recent report, and the average age of acquisition is 10.3 years.1,70 If 15% of teens are sending sexts and 30% are receiving them in the United States, that would amount to 3.3 million sending sexts and 6.6 million receiving sexts, an overwhelming number if prosecutions are to occur. Sexting: when are state prosecutors deciding to prosecute? The evaluation in a civil case would most likely be of a minor who is the victim/subject of sexually explicit material distributed by others. If you are caught driving when drunk, the legal implication is negative. A thorough sexual history includes sexual development, behaviors, attitudes, fantasies, and adjustment. Examples Illustrating Content of Statutes Addressing Sexting and Minors. While sexting has become more normalized among young people, there are many risks involved for kids and teens. It's illegal to film or photograph people having sex without their consent. Between December 1, 2013, and February 15, 2014, 5 cases were added to Lexis Advance, and between February 15 and June 15, 2014, another 12 cases were added. With tweens and teens, incorporate sexting into your ongoing discussions of safe sex and healthy relationships. Sexting can be used as evidence in criminal cases. Disclaimer. Cannot knowingly hire, coerce, solicit, entice, procure, use, cause, encourage or permit someone under 18 years old to be photographed naked, partially naked or in a sex act. Epub 2013 May 15. Sexting is the sending or forwarding of sexually explicit photographs or videos of the sender or someone known to the sender via cell phone. No minor may intentionally create, produce, distribute, present, transmit, post, exchange, disseminate, or possess, through any computer or digital media, any photograph or digitized image or any visual depiction of a minor in any condition of nudity, or involved in any prohibited sexual act. As adults, those adolescents are 2.5 times more likely to be sexually abused, 3 . Teenagers would understand that laws were enacted to protect children, prevent abuse and exploitation, and stop the production and supply of child pornography. In those cases in which charges were filed, 62 percent had juveniles charged with felonies related to sexting, of which 84 percent had been charged with felony child pornography production. Sexting has mental consequences one of which is . PMC She also emphasized the role of child psychologists and psychiatrists in educating teenagers and their families. Discuss how they can be good digital citizens by being safe, legal, and ethical online. Snapchat is probably the best known and most widely used application for this purpose. Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features! Another situation where charges were brought involved a youth who sent images of herself to many people after there had already been an intervention. Ten boys in Quebec, aged 13 to 15 years, are facing child pornography charges for trading explicit images of young girls whom they convinced to send them photographs via Snapchat.34. The consensus has been that minors involved in sexting without other exacerbating circumstances should be charged with a less serious offense. Know the law. The authors noted, Sexting also involves episodes, an estimated 33%, with no malicious elements that were better characterized as experimental romantic and sexual attention seeking among adolescents.62 More recently, teens in several states have been charged as sexual offenders for engaging in sexting.63,64 Moreover, in 2017, the US House of Representatives passed the Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act, which would have subjected sexting teens to 15- to 30-year prison sentences had the US Senate voted to approve the act.65. Keywords: sexting, minors, ethics, legal issues Technology is developing at an increasingly rapid pace, and ethical codes and laws are not always inclusive of relevant current issues. Are there mitigating circumstances that may warrant reducing the charges or the sentence? The forensic evaluator must be aware of which statute applies in the case and which of these aspects of a case should be considered when forming an opinion for the court and providing recommendations to the retaining attorney. The sexual abuse of a child is a most serious crime and an act repugnant to the moral instincts of a decent people. official website and that any information you provide is encrypted We argue that prosecutions should be limited to the more egregious and nonconsensual acts in which there is exploitation via further distribution, commercial or otherwise, or in which a third party might be involved outside of the adolescent relationship scenario that might be indicative of coercion or exploitation. NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. Although sexting is frequently discussed in the popular press, there is virtually no scientic literature available on this topic. Sexting can lead to civil lawsuits. Indeed, 27 states have passed laws that specifically address sexting (see https://cyberbullying.org/sexting-laws for a state-by-state interactive map; Figs 1 and 2). Address correspondence to Victor C. Strasburger, MD, 219 Meadowbrook Dr, Bennington, VT 05201. 7. Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited. Even after Miss Witsell's death, the bullying and insults continued on her Facebook and MySpace pages. But as discussed above, rather than be a law enforcement issue, this should be addressed as an educational opportunity to explore issues of adolescent sexual development and consent. It can also put you at risk of sexual extortion, a type of blackmail when someone threatens to share intimate images of you unless you give into their demands. Unable to load your collection due to an error, Unable to load your delegates due to an error. At present, teen sexting may be prosecuted under state law, which varies considerably from state to state, or conceivably under federal law if the teens involved live in different states. Case examples are used to illustrate the range of legal outcomes, from felony charges to no charges. Seventeen percent of the prosecutors reported that charges were brought even in cases where images did not show sexually explicit conduct or exhibition of genitals. Forensic mental health professionals, especially those with child and adolescent training, are likely to become more involved in these cases, as cell phone use by minors continues to increase. Here, "teen sexting epidemic" refers to two things: (1) the belief that sext messaging by teens is rampant and spreading, hence, is an epidemic; and (2) the process by which a piece of information spreads like a virus, came to be understood as a pathogen infecting teens, resulted in a rash of child pornography prosecutions, and erupted into . 10-20 years in prison. The defendant filed a motion to dismiss, which was denied. Such an assessment could include a juvenile who created a sexually explicit message, who sent a message, or who further distributed the image contained in a message. Among studies included in the meta-analysis, most examined sexting via the sharing of images (28% of all studies) or images and/or videos (36%), whereas others examined sexting via the sharing of images, videos, and/or explicit text messages (36%). 24]. Civil litigation also may be initiated in cases of sexting among minors. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose. The boy and the two girls who had initially forwarded the image were formally charged with dissemination of child pornography, a Class C felony.30 If the three students had been convicted of dissemination of child pornography, they could have been sentenced to 36 weeks in a juvenile detention center and would be registered as sex offenders. The prevalence of unwanted online sexual exposure and solicitation among youth: a meta-analysis. Consensual but coerced sexting: This may fall within the context of pressure to engage in other sexual activities and could be a legitimate topic for ongoing discussions about implicit and explicit sexism as well as acceptable and consensual sexual behavior.15,38 A more precise definition of what constitutes coercion and the degree to which it is consensual is essential in future research endeavors to adequately understand this form of sexting. Cases of sexual images and videos being disseminated have been reported to lead to pain and suffering and even suicide, as suggested by media reports covering the deaths of Hope Witsell27 and Jessica Logan.24 The focus of an evaluation would be to establish the level of emotional distress caused to the subject of the image by the distribution of the sexually explicit message. Sexting is defined for the purposes of this article as sending or forwarding via cell phone sexually explicit photographs or videos of the sender or someone known to the sender. Once you click send, there's no way to get your . Dr. McNeil is Professor of Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, and Dr. Binder is Professor of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA. It has become common practice among young people, as cell phones are being given to adolescents at ever younger ages. Sexting can have serious and in some cases, disastrous consequences. Sexting involving persons of any age may be considered an offence related to 'recordings in breach of privacy' under the Criminal Code 1899 (Qld). One such case involved Jessica Logan, a high school senior in Ohio, who sent a nude self-image to her boyfriend.26 After they broke up, he sent the photograph to other teens from Miss Logan's school, and the photograph was then sent to students from her school and another local high school. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, Forensic implications: adolescent sexting and cyberbullying, Prevalence and characteristics of youth sexting, Sexting by high school students: an exploratory and descriptive study, Sexually explicit cell phone messaging associated with sexual risk among adolescents, Sexting and sexual behavior in at-risk middle-schoolers. Electronic pornography; certain acts amounting to unlawfully seducing or enticing a child through use of computer online service; clarify, South Dakota Legislature SL 2012, ch 148, 1, Sexting among U.S. adolescents: psychological and legal perspectives, An integrated response to sexting: utilization of parents and schools in deterrence, In re CS, 2012 Pa. Dist. Boys and nonheterosexual youth were more likely to be targeted, and boys were more likely to target others.42. Did someone else take the phone against the minor's will and send the image? Two sexting episodes that were followed by suicide are described. J Psychosoc Nurs Ment Health Serv. Parental and societal concerns inevitably revolve around teens sexual activity, and sexting has brought those concerns front and center. There is no national consensus on exactly how the laws should be different or how sexting among minors should be prosecuted. 2019 May;143(5):e20183183. When conducting a forensic evaluation of a juvenile who has been charged with a crime relating to sexting, a psychosexual evaluation is a necessary element of the interview process. In this article, we argue that consensual teen-to-teen sexting does not warrant law enforcement involvement but rather is a health and education issue that is better addressed at home, in schools, and in primary care. ), How states approach teen sexting: map. Data from a national sample of police cases. Furthermore, the US Constitutions First Amendment could allow for the protection of consensual sexting. In many jurisdictions, the law has yet to catch up with youth sexting behavior and technological advances. The .gov means its official. government site. The decision categorically exempted child pornography from the First Amendment protections that adult pornography receives. Sexting is when someone sends or receives a sexually explicit image, video or text, usually on a mobile phone. at 244). In New York, the two persons involved in sending and receiving the message must both be under twenty and must be within five years of age from each other. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Sexting can include: sexual or 'dirty' pictures. In Ashcroft v Free Speech Coalition,44 the court struck down prohibitions on virtual or computer-generated child pornography and pornography involving actors who appear to be (or are held out as) minors but, in fact, are adults. Other related cases have made the news in recent years, and those that receive the most press are often the most tragic. A good example is the case of marriage. In 2014, a Minnesota girl was charged with felony distribution of child pornography after she used Snapchat to send a revealing selfie to a boy at her school.58 The boy took a screenshot of the photograph before it disappeared and then distributed it to his friends without her consent. Sexting is sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or videos, primarily between mobile phones. What should I do? Are there certain conditions when teen sexting has fewer consequences? Ruined future relationships are also one of the severely negative effects of sexting on children. There can also be serious implications for the victim's mental health. There are several cases where felony charges were initially filed and could have lead to sex offender registration but the charges were dismissed or reduced during the course of legal proceedings.24,30, There were numerous cases where teenagers over the age of 18 were required to register as sex offenders for sexting photographs of or to a minor. Sexting can have negative psychological effects on your child, especially if he or she has been pressured to share explicit photos, and feels shame after the act. A comparison is made with 2 cases involving 18-year-old defendants. Forty-one percent of the sample had been sexually active (engaging in oral, anal, or vaginal sex). It did not distinguish between consensual and nonconsensual sexting. In a 2014 study by Drexel University in Philadelphia, they reported that more than half of the undergraduate students had sent sexually charged messages to another person. Sexting, risk behavior, and mental health in adolescents: an examination of 2015 Pennsylvania Youth Risk Behavior Survey data. It's never been easier to meet others, date and hook up online. How many people was the image forwarded to and did those receiving it forward it further, delete it, or inform a person of authority? If you're looking for information for over 18s, visit our Types of Crime information about image-based sexual abuse. Penalties for Teen Sexting. LEXIS 77474 (S.D. In another case, an 18-year-old forwarded nude images of his 16-year-old girlfriend to more than 70 people in the context of a fight with her. Girls were asked to send a sext (68%) more often than boys (42 . Some people may also develop bipolar disorder (s) to adjust with the world in the aftermath of a sexting case gone wrong. Recent research on sexting highlighted a relationship between this new technology-mediated behavior and psychopathology correlates, although up to date results are mixed, and so far, studies have often used simple and not clinically validated measures of mental health. Legal implications are the results or consequences of being involved in something according to the law. App., 2012), Parents of dead teen sue school, friends over sexting harassment, Logan v. Sycamore Cnty. Victor C. Strasburger, Harry Zimmerman, Jeff R. Temple, Sheri Madigan; Teenagers, Sexting, and the Law. The trend reflected in statutes has been that minors involved in sexting without other exacerbating circumstances should be charged with a less serious offense, but there is no consensus on exactly how they should be adjudicated. Finally, the study reported that sexting occurs most often in one of three scenarios: exchanges of images between two romantic partners, exchanges between partners that are then shared outside the relationship, and exchanges between people who are not yet in a relationship, but where one person hopes to be.2. Legislation proposed in Indiana sought to treat those under age 22 more leniently if the images are maintained only on a cellular telephone or social media website as opposed to postings on other locations on the internet.19 This legislation died in committee. Because transferring and viewing sexually explicit material when the subject is a minor can be considered child pornography, there can be serious legal consequences. This content has been written for children and young people. Given that statutes vary by state and some states have not passed legislation to differentiate between sexting and child pornography, it is imperative that forensic psychiatrists become familiar with applicable statutes in their state or anywhere they may be involved in such cases. The officer asked the girls who were distributing her photograph to delete it from their phones. Findings Among 39 studies (with 110 380 participants) in this meta-analysis, the mean prevalences for sending and receiving sexts were 14.8% and 27.4%, respectively, with prevalence rates increasing in recent years and as youth age. Sexting and sexual behavior among middle school students. Youths often send messages without giving appropriate thought to the content of the images. Another area for further study would be to examine how child pornography laws are being applied to adults in possession of a text message with a sexually explicit image of a minor. Sexting is illegal when it involves anyone under 18 or to harass people of any age. The phenomenon of teen sexting emerged as a result of the proliferation of digital technology. The court explained that such pornography records no crime and creates no victims by its production (Id. However, it's typically the latter, image-based transmission of nude, partially nude, and/or . Dr Strasburger and Mr Zimmerman conceptualized the study, drafted the initial manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript; Drs Temple and Madigan helped to conceptualize the study and critically reviewed and revised the manuscript; and all authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work. Besides the social and personal costs, there are potential serious legal issues with sexting, including child pornography charges that have landed some teens on sex offender lists. You could get into very serious trouble . Epub 2018 Mar 2. 2016 Mar;44(1):73-81. What is the relationship among the people sending and receiving the image, and, when it was forwarded, was the same type of relationship in place? Data from a national sample of 2700 law enforcement agencies about sexting cases between 2008 and 2009 found that arrests occurred in one-third of the cases, including 18% of the consensual cases. The court of appeals held that the court did not err in overruling defendant's motion to dismiss. As in any forensic evaluation, to enhance the reliability and comprehensiveness of psychosexual evaluations, multiple sources of data must be taken into account.35 Police reports, victim statements, prior treatment records, school records, interviews with parents and current and prior romantic partners, when available, can help ensure the accuracy of the information. 5. Sexting. South Dakota enacted legislation in 2012, establishing the definition of sexting and declaring it a misdemeanor: Sexting is sending sexually explicit messages, photos, or videos via cell phone, computer, or any digital device. National Library of Medicine With increased interest in the phenomena associated with new technology (eg, sexting, cyberbullying, Internet addiction, and pornography), new research has provided some answers as to why and how teenagers sext and what the possible penalties (if any) should be, all of which will be reviewed herein. In contrast, the legal literature has discussed sexting more comprehensively due to the implications of child pornography statutes for the social response to involved youth. With the advent of smartphones, the past decade has witnessed a new manifestation of adolescent sexual behavior known as sexting. State laws often follow the federal definition, but many states have now passed separate sexting legislation that specifically addresses this increasing form of adolescent behavior and perhaps constitutionally protected First Amendment speech. This analysis focuses on the cases involving only juveniles. Essentially, these states have decriminalized sexting. A study published in January 2013 based on interviews of 378 state prosecutors who had worked on technology-facilitated crimes against children found that 62 percent had handled a sexting case involving juveniles.7 Thirty-six percent of prosecutors in the sample reported that they had filed charges in these cases, and 21 percent had filed felony charges. No legal charges were brought against the students involved in disseminating the photograph or in the bullying that preceded Miss Witsell's suicide. Furthermore, sexting prosecutions can expose teens and families to severe embarrassment and unwanted notoriety in the newspapers. Many statutes specify sexting as a misdemeanor, create educational or diversion programs, or institute civil fines as punishment.8 Some statutes involve eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing for persons less than 18 years of age and authorize orders relieving a person of the obligation to report as a sex offender. Similarly, in those rare instances in which minors may go beyond producing sexual images of themselves and choose to disseminate them to adults or coerce other minors to submit to sex and filming, prosecution may be appropriate. In studies on the subject, rates of minors . Epub 2012 Jun 7. 57% of adults aged 18-30 years. In May 2008, she went to school counselors and her school resource officer, a City of Montgomery Police Officer, to ask for help. The range of possible repercussions depends heavily on the parties involved, their ages, and . Social media and new technology: a primer. The image is captured and saved without being deleted and then can be forwarded to others, without the knowledge of the creator of the image. Are there ways to determine prevalence other than self-reports? Miss Witsell became the target of bullying in her middle school, and other students created a website called the Hope Hater Page. Even after the summer break, the bullying continued. How states approach teen sexting: pie chart. In 2010, two 14-year-old eighth graders in Olympia, Washington, were flirting by text message when the girl took a naked self-image and texted it to the boy.30 A few weeks later, a former friend of the girl convinced the boy to send her the photo. Brief report: teen sexting and psychosocial health. What is the risk of reoffending? Not only is sexting prevalent in their world, but it is doubtful they would connect sexting with the sexual exploitation of children [Ref. One of the consequences of sexting is the potential of ending up on sex offender registries for sharing pictures of girlfriends. The family structure of the plaintiff may influence whether family therapy, individual therapy, medications, other interventions are recommended. Sharing a sexual photo/video without a person's consent could be illegal. Studies have shown that sexting is associated with incidences of increased sexual behavior. Federal and State Government policies and curricula mandate the uptake of emergent digital technologies within schools. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. Reputations, social lives, and future academics and careers can be ruined as a result of nude pictures going public. On the basis of the evidence presented above, we argue that consensual sexting between teens should not be unlawful. During the evaluation, questions specific to the charged offense should include chronicity, the targets of the offenses, the individual's and victim's account of the offense, potential motivators, and any previously undetected sexually abusive behaviors.35 History of mental illness or symptoms of mental illness at the time of the offense must be taken into consideration. The prevalences of forwarding a sext without consent and having a sext forwarded . A manic episode, hypomania, or intoxication could be reasons for disinhibition. The association between adolescent sexting, psychosocial difficulties, and risk behavior: integrative review. What is the minor's level of developmental maturity? Sure, it can be harmless and fun - that's probably why lots of young people do it. These crimes may have a sentence for convicted individuals of up to five years in prison or two and a half in jail. 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