Is Sexting a Crime? Wolfe & Mote Law Group, LLC

Choose a Girl

For more information on Teenage Sexting, see the FBI’s Law Enforcement Bulletin. With lots of experience, expertise, and legal resources, they will investigate every detail of your child pornography or sexting case so they can understand all the facts. Better still, they will work aggressively to build individualized criminal defense arguments that will challenge whatever evidence the criminal prosecution has against you. Minors may be under pressure to take pictures of themselves or to send messages they have received that were taken by others. They may do this at the urging of an insistent boyfriend or girlfriend or from an adult they have met online. Unfortunately, once a message has been sent it can be disseminated to many people beyond the sender’s intent or may be used to embarrass or manipulate the sender.

Can Sexting Be Considered a Sex Crime?

Section 2422(b) includes attempt, and has a statutory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum penalty of life in prison. The act of sharing nude photos without a person’s consent on a mass or minor scale. Developed by Wondershare, FamiSafe may be the app you are looking for. It comes with the Explicit Content Detection feature to watch out for explicit words in kid’s messages and 7 other social platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and more.

How Do I Handle Sexting Charges in Michigan?

• Likewise, if students use school computers to sext, they can be punished in states such as Arizona.
• Where a minor is involved, even consensual sexting could potentially result in child pornography or indecency charges and a criminal record.
• As a defense against a sex crime charge, Neal Davis may argue that the defendant is innocent based on individual circumstances of the case.
• The public has access to information about a convicted sex offender depending on the person’s classification level.

Anyone facing charges relating to sexting in Ohio might not see any way out of the situation. However, a dedicated Ohio criminal defense attorney will evaluate your case to determine any defenses that could help you avoid a conviction or minimize the severity of the punishment. An adult convicted or a juvenile adjudicated a delinquent child for a sex crime involving a child must register as a convicted sex offender. A person on the sex offender registry must re-register his or her address every year.

Chances are that you’ve heard the word “sexting” before, even if you’re not entirely sure what it is. The term “sexting” describes the sending and receiving of sexually explicit photos, messages, and video clips by text, email, or by posting them on social networking sites. Some people who “sext” each other are romantically involved (boyfriend/girlfriend, married couples). While texting is generally lawful when it involves two consenting adults, it can amount to criminal charges under certain circumstances.

What’s more, as parents, it can be troublesome to browse through every message that kids send out on social media platforms. That’s why we are looking for an app that can help monitor kid’s messages and alert parents when suspicious content is detected. Now that we have looked at five primary laws on sexting, what can teen parents do to keep their blossoming adults in check? Louisiana is an example of a state that does not want to split hairs in its messaging. The general public opinion, especially in a court of law, is that those who are under the age of 17 should not possess or distribute any explicit sexual content of themselves or their peers.

Or, if the receiver is under the age of 18, this sexting violates a variety of existing laws. A seemingly innocent image between two lovers can suddenly become subject to criminal investigation. Sexts and nudes are much riskier and much more dangerous than you might think, and sending and receiving explicit content can get you in a lot of trouble. Depending on the state you’re in and your age, you could even be breaking a law when you send or receive a nude.

Of these, only Nebraska treats consent as an affirmative defense if the sexting occurred between two minors. Otherwise, as with statutory rape laws, minors cannot provide consent. A conviction could result in a felony-level charge, which often involves a significant amount of time in prison and/or hefty fines. Laws are necessary in order to protect you, but legal language can be difficult and boring to read. This section summarizes Texas’ laws that apply to bullying, harassment, sexting, intimate image abuse, sextortion, and child pornography. As you know, sexting is the practice of sending nude or semi-nude pictures of yourself to someone else by cell phone – like texting.

For instance, an adult sending a sexual image to another adult might not always be consensual. Additionally, once someone possesses explicit content from another person, there’s always a risk that it could be shared without consent. Because teen sexting can involve juvenile courts (teens and minors younger than 18) or adult courts (teens who are 18 and 19) and cover various criminal laws, there is a wide range of potential penalties that may apply. In states that have specific laws that target sexting, the crime is typically either a misdemeanor or petty offense.

This could be considered a Class 3 misdemeanor, which may result in fines as well as jail time. Sexting is on the rise in the U.S, and with social media and connected devices, more and more teenagers are engaging in this practice. But what exactly is sexting — and what circumstances make it a crime in Arizona?