Sexual panic makes for bad laws, and worse, bad application of existing law, as I believe this case illustrates.
Short version: Boy meets girl, girl develops crush on boy. Boy tells girl he will not be her friend unless she sexts him with a video of her masturbating. Girl does so. Boy puts video on his PC, uploads it, video gets around, girl is devastated. Girl's family files lawsuit under child exploitation and pornography laws, boy's family argues that two kids sexting do not a child porn ring make. Judge rules all child porn laws do, in fact, apply.
These cases with teenagers strike me as an extremely unwise use of legal resources. Exemplum gratum, Wilson v. Georgia, in which a seventeen year old was labeled a sex offender for life for receiving oral sex from another teenager.
Can any rational case be made for criminalizing hormonally induced stupidity in teenagers? Does anyone care to play Devil's Advocate and argue for the horrific status quo?
Bookmarks