Will this stop teens from sending these?

Prosecutors Bring "Sexting" Cell Phone Charges 

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Teenagers' distributing nude self-portraits electronically --

called "sexting" if done by cell phone - is resulting in some 

child pornography and other criminal charges, reports 

the Associated Press. 

"Hopefully we'll get the message out to these kids," 

says Michael McAlexander, a prosecutor in Ft. Wayne, In., 

where a teenage boy faces felony obscenity charges 

for allegedly sending a photo of his private parts 

to several female classmates. Another boy was 

charged with child pornography in a similar case. 

Some photos are sent to harass other teens or 

to get attention. Other times, they're viewed as 

high-tech flirtingt. Either way, law enforcement 

officials want it to stop, even if it means threatening 

to add "sex offender" to a juvenile's confidential record. 

"We don't want to throw these kids in jail," McAlexander 

says. "But we want them to think." In Greensburg, Pa., 

hree high school girls who sent seminude photos 

and four male students who received them were 

all hit with child pornography charges.

 

Associated Press/Memphis Commercial Appeal