Vermont Senate Passes Bill to Avoid Sexting Prosecutions

Two weeks after a federal judge blocked a PA prosecutor from filing child pornography charges against teenagers, Vermont's Senate this past week took steps to avoid prosecuting teenagers for sexting.  In S-125 the Senate seeks to eliminate prosecutions where:

[T]he person is less than 19 years old, the child is at least 13 years old, and the child knowingly and voluntarily and without threat or coercion used an electronic communication device to transmit an image of himself or herself to the person

The rule would apply to Vermont's "use of a child in a sexual performance," "promoting a recording of sexual conduct," and "possession of child pornography" charges.

The new law is a significant step in the right direction.  When pornography charges are brought against kids, it is a serious situation.  The charges implicate the Adam Walsh/Megan's Law restrictions.  That means hypothetically, when a teenager is prosecuted for something like this, they would have to notify their neighbors when they move.  Imagine being the 18 year old kid that did something very very stupid when they were 13, and now when they start college they have to tell everyone in their dorm about it.

Professor Burkoff when commenting on a recent case in PA involving sexting said that by threatening charges of this type, the prosecutor is losing sight of the proper role of a prosecutor.  According to Burkoff:

What they did was clearly immature but I don't think it was criminal. Worse than that, I think the role of a prosecutor is to protect the community interest, but these girls are a part of his community

I could not agree more.  While this behavior is inappropriate and requires action, criminal prosecution is not the proper form of action.  Sex education and talks with parents are where the repercussions of these actions need to be discussed.  Further, those discussions should entail not just the moral issues with this kind of behavior (which I think people will disagree about) but more importantly the long lasting effects of sexting.  Digital pictures are forever and can be forwarded to everyone and anyone.

I am looking forward to seeing how this bill continues on in Vermont, and whether other states will begin to take similar actions.

Tagged as: Burkoff, Sexting, Vermont