Five Va. teens charged with felonies in sexting case

ROCKY MOUNT

Five teens were taken into custody at Franklin County High School over the past few days and charged with various felony counts of using cellphones to possess and transmit pornography involving minors, said Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood.

As the legal systems in the region grapple with how to handle the "sexting" cases, this week's charges in Franklin County come after several other juveniles there have been charged with felonies for such acts in recent months.

Sexting is sending sexually explicit photos via cellphone texts and e-mail.

The most recent charges stemmed from a girl taking a male student's phone into a bathroom at the high school, where she used it to take pictures of herself, according to media reports. The male student then sent the picture to other students.

Hapgood said he could not discuss the case because it is ongoing and juveniles are involved, but he said each student's charges varied in type and count depending on how many images were found on their cellphones.

Superintendent Charles Lackey declined to comment about the cases, saying "this was a law enforcement issue. It's not a school issue."

The consequences each student could face aren't clear, and the chances of them being convicted on felony pornography charges are as likely "as the moon coming crashing down tomorrow," Hapgood said.

The mission of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court -- where the cases will be heard -- is to be rehabilitative, he said, allowing for different ways to handle sexting cases involving children and teens, including education, counseling and probation.

It's not clear exactly how many cases of sexting area law enforcement are currently dealing with, but most say there has been a small increase. In the past year, Hapgood said his office has seen six to eight cases before the five cases filed this week.

The varying degrees in how prosecutors around the state handle sexting cases is caused by the "lack of much guidance from state legislators," Hapgood said.

No law -- state or federal -- exists to address sexting.

Some commonwealth's attorneys in the region said they tend to back off, or not even file, pornography charges for sexting incidents, calling them too harsh. Instead, Henry County Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Bushnell said he's been applying a misdemeanor obscenity charge.

Del. Jackson Miller, R-Manassas, proposed a bill that would make sexting a Class 3 misdemeanor. The Courts of Justice Committee tabled the bill until next year.