The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Sexting: It's all the rage these days!
Lord Yod
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
In America we have this group of laws designed to protect children from exploitation - prostitution, pornography, and other forms of abuse - and the consequences for breaking them are dire indeed. You go on a list, permanently, and usually have to register with your local sheriff's dept. when you move. Most states won't let you live near a school or public park. It becomes rather difficult to get a job, particularly anything dealing with kids. These are all fantastic consequences, if they are happening to a child predator.
The problem? With the advent of camera phones, teenage girls have started taking nude pics of themselves and posting them online or sending them to friends. Since the girls are underage, the pictures are considered child porn; taking the photo, producing child porn; sending it around, transmitting it; and so on.
Does it make any goddamn sense for a 14-year-old girl to be charged with a felony sex offense for posting nude pictures of herself on Myspace?
What the fuck? This is the third or fourth time I've seen a similar story in the last month. It brings to light all sorts of problems inherent in the current system. What should be done about this?
The problem? With the advent of camera phones, teenage girls have started taking nude pics of themselves and posting them online or sending them to friends. Since the girls are underage, the pictures are considered child porn; taking the photo, producing child porn; sending it around, transmitting it; and so on.
Does it make any goddamn sense for a 14-year-old girl to be charged with a felony sex offense for posting nude pictures of herself on Myspace?
A 14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography after posting nearly 30 explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com — charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted.
...
The teen, whose name has not been released because of her age, was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. She was released to her mother's custody.
If convicted of the distribution charge, she would be forced to register with the state as a sex offender under Megan's Law, said state Attorney General Anne Milgram. She also could face up to 17 years in jail, though such a stiff sentence is unlikely.
What the fuck? This is the third or fourth time I've seen a similar story in the last month. It brings to light all sorts of problems inherent in the current system. What should be done about this?
Lord Yod on
0
Posts
Still, there are laws.
Taking a picture of yourself? Who cares, not immediately illegal, not much opportunity for prosecution.
Taking a digital picture of yourself and MMS'ing it or something? Meh, pretty similar to a normal picture. The person receiving it is the person most likely to face charges, and law enforcement should investigate why that person is in a relationship with a 14-year-old and why s/he is getting those pictures.
Take a digital picture of yourself and putting it on myspace? Goddamn, just being that dumb should be punishable.
I've thought Megan's Law was pretty stupid long before cases like this hit the courts, but there's disagreeing with the punishment, and then there's being overly lax on real issues about child sexuality.
(And as a total aside -- I saw some ad last night about receiving "Amber Alert" text messages to your telephone, so parents can know if and when a "registered sex offender" lives or breathes in this world. That. shit. is. fucked. up.)
tough on crime erry time
But he is stupid. This is stupid.
We need politicians willing to change absurd laws without having to fear being labeled as "soft on crime/child predators" come election time.
Posting child pornography in a public forum is and should be a punishable offense.
She's also being charged with possession. Really I understand that throwing around underaged naked pictures of yourself should be punished. Not in the way it has been, but it should be punished somehow. The thing is she's also being punished for just having the photos to begin with, and it's being charged as possession of child pornography. That's what really gets me.
How about not charging her and ruining her entire life? I mean, yea it was stupid to do that, but she's 14. 14 year olds do stupid things from time to time, their life shouldn't be ruined due to something as inconsequential as this.
Doesn't your record get wiped when you turn 18?
So the DA, if he chose to show some discretion as many of you would clearly advocate, could forego the slam dunk distribution charge, and only charge the possession, which in turn would save this girl from wearing the Scarlet Letter for the rest of her adult life. You guys should support the possession charge, frankly.
Not wiped, sealed. I'm also not certain how being a registered sex offender plays into that.
I'm not comfortable with the idea of people being a criminal because they own pictures of their own body, but I can understand what you're saying.
While very true, we don't know if thats the case here, or if its just an overzealous DA.
And
Just about cover my opinion on this matter.
Provided she's cute.
As for whether Gabe and Tycho should be culpable, not really, since this board has rules against posting nudity and the pictures would be deleted when pointed out to a mod.
It seems much cleaner simply to say it is illegal to distribute child pornography than it is to open a loophole for people to exploit.
Anyway:
The problem, if you ask me, is the mandatory sentencing. I'll say that about basically any mandatory sentence, but that's the problem here.
Now, given the DA's situation, where a girl has committed a crime, and the legal framework he has to negotiate, I think the best think to do would be to prosecute the possession charge, because I think the girl should face some kind of legal punishment for her behavior.
Maybe you're right that the problem is mandatory sentencing, then. This girl shouldn't be sent to jail for years and branded as a sex offender for this.
Now, given that charge carries a retarded mandatory sentence, that I would argue against whether it be for a 14-year-old girl with pictures of herself or if it was a 36-year-old sexually abusive stepfather, I think the DA should use the options available to him, charge her with something which carries a lighter sentence, and in the end some kind of justice will be served.
Does the charge match the crime? No, it doesn't. Like many instances in the legal world, it doesn't have to.
Once you go on the sex offender list, you're on it forever. I read last week about a girl who is dealing with the repercussions of giving her boyfriend a blowjob in the music room when she was 17, 10 years ago.
The problem isn't the pictures. This should never have been a crime in the first place. Those are just information: zeros and ones. The fact that the zeros and ones are in a pattern that someone finds objectionable is total bullshit.
Now, why is child pornography illegal in the first place? Because it means you need to harm children to make it or it 'incites' people to harm children. Well, maybe they ought to make abusing children illegal and don't have something harmless like this ruin lives.
I guarantee that 17 years in prison is more harmful than having taken a picture of yourself in the mirror.
Also, the 17 years is a hypothetical number that represents the maximum number possible if found guilty of all charges. No one really expects this girl to spend 17 years in prison.