SEXTING IS A SEX CRIME?

Sexting has become a widespread problem among American teenagers in recent years and has lead to many teenagers being tried for felony sex offenses. A 2008 survey of 1,280 teenagers and young adults found that 20% of teens (13-19) had sent nude or semi-nude photographs of themselves electronically. Additionally, 39% of teens had sent sexually explicit text messages (Wikipedia.com). Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos electronically, primarily between mobile phones. Teenagers across America are engaged in sexting and it may land them in federal prison, on the sex offender registry or ruin their lives. Teens are being charged for sending sexting and or possessing sexting images even though it is only between teens of who are not yet legally adults. Should we be charging teens with felonies and having them register as sex offenders for sexting or is there another way to handle sexting?

Current laws dealing with sexting are the same laws created to deal with adult pedophiles, which may require new legislation to deal with sexting. Under federal and state child-porn laws it is illegal to create explicit images of a minor, posses them or distribute them (Richmond, 2009). These laws were intended to prevent adult abuse of minors but with sexting are being used to punish minors who create and distribute images. With sexting the images are often of themselves taken by themselves, making them the “perpetrator” and the victim. In January 2009, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, child pornography charges were brought against six teens after three girls sent sexually explicit photographs to their male classmates (Wikipedia.com). Another example took place in Pennsylvania. Photos were found on a cell phone of a teenage girl and she was threatened by a District Attorney to attend a 10 hour pornography and sexual violence class or he would file charges of sexual abuse of a minor against her. If convicted she could serve prison time and have to register as a sex offender (Hamill, 2009). People have different opinions on the legislation in place for teens who are caught sexting. Most feel that the punishment does not fit the crime, while others believe teens need to learn sexting is not ok. Have a look at this video on sexting.

As you just saw in the video, the criterion for charging the teens does not have to be strong. As stated in the video, “All you look at is, is this a nude or semi nude or suggestive photograph-and is the person depicted in it a minor?....And that is enough to warrant a criminal prosecution for child pornography.” The prosecutor in the video stated that the current laws were not intended to be used the way prosecutors are with sexting. On the other hand, the officer agreed with the laws; even though the two parties consent, minors can never consent.

There is new legislation emerging to make the punishment for sexting not detrimental. “Vermont lawmakers introduced a bill in April 2009 to legalize the consensual exchange of graphic images between two people 13 to 18 years old. Passing along such images to others would remain a crime” (Wikapidea.com). Ohio lawmakers have proposed a law that would make sexting a first degree misdemeanor instead of a felony. Eliminating the possibility of the teen being labeled as a sex offender. Lawmakers realize there needs to be punishment sending sexually explicit material that someone does not agree to and sending of material people mutually agree to send between one another.

References

Hamill, S. D. (2009, March 26). Students Sue Prosecutor in Cellphone Photos Case. New York

Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Richmond, R. (2009, March 29). Sexting May Place Teens at Legal Risk. New York Times.

Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Sexting. (n.d.) In Wikipedia online. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/.

You Tube Video. Sexting Flirting with Felony. Retrieved from http://Youtube.com

Why are sex offenders and the crimes they commit important to study and talk about? Why is the public so interested in sex crimes and the people who commit them? Sex offenders and the crimes that they commit affect thousands of people all over the country and world; the statistics are shocking, 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18, an estimated 39 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse exist in America today (Darkness to Light). According to the Department of justice, there were overall 191,670 victims of rape or sexual assault reported in 20005 and only 16% of rapes and sexual assaults are reported to the police. But 1 of 6 women has experienced an attempted or completed rape. Many of the crimes these sex offenders commit are detrimental to victims, the community and society. Other crimes committed by sex offenders aren't as heinous or detrimental but still need to be examined. The crimes of sex offenders vary in seriousness, from petty or nuisance misdemeanors to rape and child molestation. In the recent past, since about 1994, laws have been passed to track sex offenders and prevent them from reoffending. Laws such as Megan’s Law and Jessica’s Law are two of the most widely discussed. Many feel these laws are working, while others believe they create civil rights issues for offenders and their family members. Sex crimes are becoming less visible and less likely to occur, but still need to be studied to further reduce sex from happening

Sex crimes and sex offenders are important to talk about because of the amount of people they affect every year. According to Holmes and Holmes (2009), there are currently more than 234,000 sex offenders in prison in the United States. Most of these offenders are people who have committed a crime like rape or other violent sex crimes. There are approximately 400,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (2006) report that 14.8 % of women were victims of rape sometime during their lifetimes; 2.8% of women were victims of attempted rape at some point during their lifetimes. It is assumed these numbers are low since rape is widely believed to be an underreported crime. We know that sex crimes are being committed everyday but what can be done to reduce the frequency and repair the damage to victims as well as treat offenders?

Some people believe that sex offender treatment programs are a waste of time and money, while others believe treatment is better than just locking offenders up. These people believe that sex offenders are not treated they will continue to commit sex crimes when released. Treatment programs can contribute to community safety because those who attend and cooperate with program conditions are less likely to re-offend than those who reject intervention (Center for sex offender management, 2009). The only meta-analysis of treatment outcome studies to date has found a small, yet significant treatment effect—an 8% reduction in the recidivism rate for offenders who participated in treatment (Hall, 1995). Research also demonstrates that sex offenders who fail to complete treatment programs are at increased risk for both sexual and general recidivism (Hanson and Bussiere, 1998). Sex offender treatment can work but treatment doesn’t work for everyone. Treatment is important because something has to be done to prevent reoffending. At the same time incarceration is important because there needs to be punishment when people commit sex crimes. I don’t believe there can be one without the other. Meaning there can’t be punishment without treatment and vice versa. The topic of sex crimes and sex offenders is important because of the harm these crimes cause and the amount of people affected by these crimes every day. We need to study and evaluate why people commit these crimes and what can be done to stop them, treat offenders and repair victims.

References

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2005). Criminal victimizations 2004. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Justice.
Hall, G.C.N., "Sex Offender Recidivism Revisited: A Meta-Analysis of Recent Treatment
Studies," Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 63 (1995): 802-809.
Hanson, R. and Bussiere, M. "Predicting Relapse: A Meta-Analysis of Sexual Offender
Recidivism Studies," Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 66 (1998): 348-364.
Holmes, S. T. (2009). Sex Crimes: Patterns and Behaviors. California: Thousand Oaks.
CSOM. (2009). Center for Sex Offender Management. Retrieved from http://www.csom.org/