Teen 'Sexting' Can Lead to Jail Time

Reports of teens taking nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves and sending them to the cell phones of their boyfriends or girlfriends as text messages are much more than a potentially embarrassing skeleton in the closet, according to Paul Iannace, of the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crime Task Force.

Iannace told WFMZ-TV that according to Pennsylvania state law, these actions, known as can actually be considered three separate felonies, since the teens who take and share the pictures are actually producing, disseminating and possessing child pornography.

The topic of sexting got a lot of attention in the Parkland and East Penn School Districts last fall, when nude photos of current and past Emmaus High School students were discovered on an international porn Web site. Law enforcement also had notified Parkland school officials at the time that Parkland students may have been involved in the sexting case being investigated by state, county and local authorities, but not on school property.

The photos, were uploaded to the site by the girls’ former boyfriends, who had gotten them via cell phone text messages when they were still dating.

In January, Lehigh County Deputy District Attorney Kristie Morffi, a Parkland High School graduate, talked to Parkland students about the dangers of sexting and the legal consequences. About 3,000 students in ninth through 12th grades attended the presentations, said Debbie Garlicki, spokeswoman for the Lehigh County District Attorney's office.  

The Lehigh County District Attorney's Office continutes to offer local schools help in educating students on . To schedule a presentation, call the district attorney’s office at 610-782-3100.