[QUOTE](CNN) -- Before Saturday, a Florida teenager who sent or received nude photos or video could have been charged with a felony and forced to register as a sex offender.
But a new law, recognizing the proliferation of cell phones and computers, eases the penalties for "sexting" infractions.
A first offense is punishable by eight hours of community service or a $60 fine; the second is a misdemeanor and the third is a felony.
State Rep. Joseph Abruzzo, D-Wellington, sponsored the legislation, which was approved in June.
"When our child pornography laws were written, they failed to take into account advances in technology, such as cell phones," Abruzzo said in a statement published on the website of CNN affiliate WPBF in West Palm Beach. "(This bill) modernizes these laws to ensure that children's lives are not ruined due to youthful indiscretion. This reform will let our youth know that such behavior is wrong without labeling them sex offenders for the rest of their lives."
CNN could not immediately reach Abruzzo for comment Saturday.
Under House Bill 75, teens who receive explicit images won't be charged if they took reasonable steps to report it, did not solicit the image and did not send it to someone.
A recent Associated Press/MTV poll of Internet behavior found one of three teen and young adult respondents said they've taken part in "sexting," which includes sending sexually charged texts. The survey is part of MTV's "A Thin Line" campaign, a multi-year effort to stamp out digital abuse.
Seventy-one percent of the survey's respondents said that "sexting" is a problem for Web users their age.
Ten percent of respondents who said they'd exchanged sexual messages said they'd done so with people they know only online -- a steep drop from the 29 percent who said they'd done so in 2009.
"There's probably a lot of kids who don't realize how this (sexting) could impact their life," Karl Bergstrom of Fort Myers told CNN affiliate WINK.
[/QUOTE]
Source: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/01/us/florida-sexting/index.html?hpt=hp_t2[/url]
$60 fine for first offense?
That's thousands of times better than what it used to be.
[editline]2nd October 2011[/editline]
Hopefully this carries over to other states
wow we're going the wrong direction
personally i think we should give all of these[B][I] future pedophiles[/I][/B] the chair
[QUOTE=Valdor;32583685]wow we're going the wrong direction
personally i think we should give all of these[B][I] future pedophiles[/I][/B] the chair[/QUOTE]
I think that being caught and forced to go to court at a young age would make a person dead inside already.
I still think punishing teens for their natural urges is still fucking ridiculous.
That's better, but the whole concept of fining and/or prosecuting teenagers for sending sexy pics to each others phones is fucking ridiculous.
I don't care how many times a kid does it, the only time it should ever be a felony is if some kid spreads the pictures on the internet or around school. Yeah, it's better than registering as a sex offender but that's just dumb. It should never be anything more than a misdemeanor at the MOST.
Holy shit, someone under the legal adult age is having a relationship
BETTER MARK THEM AS A CRIMINAL SEX OFFENDER
-snip automerge broken-
Heh, good thing I live in Florida.
Stupid backwards ass laws.
A 17 year and 364 day old sent pictures of themselves nude? TO PRISON WITH THEM!!!
[QUOTE=LegndNikko;32584381]Holy shit, someone under the legal adult age is having a relationship
BETTER MARK THEM AS A CRIMINAL SEX OFFENDER[/QUOTE]
Mostly this case is just about the disconnect between child abuse and the legal definition of child pornography. Child porn laws were drafted to do something about actual abuse taking place. Instead, the material itself has become the crime, with no connect to preventing harm to actual people.
As far as I'm concerned, if you're the one holding the camera, it's not abuse. These dumb sluts made the decision to put themselves out there, and they have to deal with the consequences.
Why was sexting among teens considered illegal in the first place?
[QUOTE=znk666;32586310]Why was sexting among teens considered illegal in the first place?[/QUOTE]
Because their apparently pedos or something and soccer moms.
I don't know actually. I didn't even knew people actually investigated this crap, or that they even cared and the whole concept is a ridiculous backwards nanny country idea.
The thing is, when new technology comes out, the older generation doesn't know how to handle it. Camera phones have been out for what? Like 12-13 years now? The teens are now grown ups and they're the ones that'll change things to how they should be. Our generation should be better at adapting to new technologies.
[QUOTE=Armybrother;32584403]Heh, good thing I live in Florida.[/QUOTE]
Neat, me too.
So, uhh, you show me yours, I'll show you mine?
sexting really is very unerotic. If you want to say something sexy to someone, phone them.
wait this is talking about sending nudie pics.
If you actually get caught "sexting" then you must be an idiot.
This is one of those laws where it won't be enforced unless they absolutely need a reason to get somebody in trouble.
I really want to see what happens with the legal system and government as soon as our\my generation gets into power. We've been raised with this kind of technology, and I assume we have a far better grasp of it than the people in power currently do or ever will.
the funniest part is that you can get charged with creation and possession of child porn if you take a naked picture of yourself if you're under 18. then you can get registered as a sex offender for life.
I'm sorry I don't see how it's any of the government's business what people text each other.
You shouldn't be texting people naked photos, it can bite you back in the ass...
This is illegal still? Can they get onto the sex offenders list for this?
[QUOTE=znk666;32586310]Why was sexting among teens considered illegal in the first place?[/QUOTE]
Distribution of child pornography.
How can you charge a teenager on something like this? I mean, it's not like their brain is in charge.
Seriously, when you're a guy and some girl offers to send you nudie pics? You're not thinking! The only thing going through your mind is "Fuck yeah, that chick's naked!".
Punishing people who are at or above the legal age of consent for sending each other nude pictures is absurd. Surely those people realize that the alternative is physical contact?
It's a step in the right direction, but not far enough.
I remember a shitty announcement at school by some police officer who deals with this type of stuff.
She said something about if you are caught involved in texting she says she will stop at nothing to register you as a sex offender and give you a big punishment. From what I remember, almost every student laughed at all this dumb shit she kept saying. All the punishments were aimed towards males by the way, she acted like the girls who sent the pictures were all forced by their boyfriends to do it and are innocent in every way.
I mean come on, if it's just sexting among teens, they're sending sexy pictures between people their own age, yet they want to ruin someone's life by registering them as a sex offender.
[QUOTE=Ninja Duck;32596598]I mean come on, if it's just sexting among teens, they're sending sexy pictures between people their own age, yet they want to ruin someone's life by registering them as a sex offender.[/QUOTE]
You have to make them realize that they're ruining their life by making sure their life is ruined.
[QUOTE=CoolHandLuke;32593096]You shouldn't be texting people naked photos, it can bite you back in the ass...[/QUOTE]
True.
However, it never bit me back...
Lets see how their gonna prove that thing is mine :v:
charging child porn distribution over sexting is dumb as fuck
even dumber than sexting
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