Can Sexting be a Sex Crime?

Sexting Criminal Defense Lawyer

The word “sexting” is a relatively new term, but it has quickly infiltrated our society. Even many of our grandparents are familiar with the term. The act of sexting has become popular with people of all ages, but particularly so with teenagers. With the use of social media ever on the rise, there are multiple outlets for teens to share their sexts through. These sexts can then be seen by all of their friends and many other online users. With sexting on the rise, the potential for people to violate child pornography laws has grown exponentially.

Crimes committed through social media are prosecuted by using existing laws. The federal definition of child pornography is “any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor”. The state of Georgia has a law specific to child pornography occurring on a computer called the Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 1999.

The application of child pornography laws becomes somewhat muddled. An adult who takes a sexually explicit photo of a minor and shares it through a social media outlet has obviously violated a child pornography law. Many states are taking it a step further and prosecuting minors for child pornography as well. If one minor receives a sexually explicit photo from another minor and forwards it on, without permission, to another minor, that can be a violation of child pornography laws as well. Unfortunately, there is no clause in the child pornography laws exempting minors from being subject to prosecution even if they took photos of themselves willingly.

Child pornography laws are ever changing and under increased scrutiny with social media and the popularity of the selfie on the rise. Prosecutions for violating child pornography laws are on the rise and penalties for violating these laws are becoming stiffer. One of the gray areas of the child pornography laws as they stand is the subject of possession of child pornography. Social media outlets are able to store larger and larger amounts of images for indefinite amounts of time. Viewers of these images no longer have to download them directly to their computers since they can simply view them as they are stored through the social media outlets. Does this constitute possession?
Kyle Koester has successfully defended clients against child pornography charges.

These charges can be serious and complicated. Call Kyle so he can get to work on your case today!

Call 770.744.5250 Today!