Can teens in Kansas be charge criminally for sending nude pictures to each other. example a 16 yr. old male sends full nude of himself to a 14 yr. old girl. Will they both be charged or will either one of them be charged. A cocerned parent!

It is our hope that some other form of discipline would be chosen for sexting and criminal charges would NOT be pursued against teens on all sexting violations, but YES it is very possible that criminal charges could be filed. In fact, there are hundreds if not thousands of sexting cases in our courts around the nation right now. Nude or provocative photos of children under the age of 18 are considered "child pornography". When they are exchanged electronically, it could be a violation of Federal and State laws on child pornography no matter who the exchange is between.

One of the biggest problems with sexting is that the intended recipient is not always the only person receiving the photo(s). Sexting pics will get hijacked, in one form or another, and they are circulated to others only to end up on the internet at some point. This is NOT the originally intended outcome certainly, but it is a reality. Once it happens, there is nothing anyone can do to reverse it.

Child pornography is a horrific and very serious crime against children around the world. Though teens are not thinking about what they are doing or the ramifications globally of what might happen after they click the "Send" button. Somehow we need to make it clear to them that this is not a "Safe" activity, no matter how innocent they feel they are while doing it. It's not necessarily about them, it's about the gross perverts who want to hurt children and teens around the globe and what these photos do to help feed their appetites.

Article: Anatomy of a Child Pornographer [1]