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What Teens Need To Know About Child Exploitation Laws

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Today's technology leaves teens with the ability to put themselves on display in unprecedented ways. With the bodily changes that teens are going through, there is a certain amount of curiosity, and phones can give teens ways to express this curiosity. Unfortunately, what seems like innocent exploring can have serious and long-lasting legal consequences. Before teens get themselves in the kind of legal trouble that can follow them for the rest of their lives, it is important for them to know the consequences. 

Child Pornography

Child pornography is defined legally as any sexually suggestive depiction of a minor or display of the minor's pubic area. When people think of child pornography, they often think the danger is a creepy adult luring teens or children into a lair and taking such pictures to then distribute. However, the phenomenon of sexting is another source of such pictures. Sexting occurs when a teen texts a nude or suggestive image to someone else. Often the person receiving the picture is a boyfriend or girlfriend. The law looks at the person taking the picture as manufacturing and distributing pornography and the person who receives and opens the picture as someone storing child pornography. These are serious charges. 

The Consequences

Sexual crimes are considered felonies and therefore can stay on a person's record even after they become legally an adult. Thus, what starts as a couple of teens fooling around can become a serious legal and long-lasting legal problem. For example, those who commit sexual crimes must legally be entered on the registry of sexual offenders. Anytime they move into a neighborhood, they must register their address, and their neighbors will then know that they committed a crime, but they will not know what the crime was. Furthermore, anytime a potential employer has to do a background check, the felony will show up on the offender's record. While there are some legal ways to have a juvenile record sealed, it is always better to not commit a crime in the first place. 

While teens may not think of sexting as a crime, the parent of a teen caught sexting might not see things the same way. While teens might think the only danger in sexting is that someone will share their picture with people they did not intend to see it, the embarrassment that might stem from such sharing will eventually pass and can be avoided by moving, the legal ramifications, however, can be much more lasting. In any case, it is worth talking to teens and making sure they understand how to avoid making a decision that can haunt them for years to come.

If you know someone who needs a criminal defense lawyer for their case, visit one like Hart Law Offices, PC.


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