09/31/12 9 phones seized after girl sends nude photo

[Dark Blue]

azcentral.com Wrote:

CHICAGO - Police say they have seized nine cell phones after a 16-year-old high school honors student took a nude photograph of herself and sent it to a male student.

The picture quickly went viral on campus, and a Plainfield East High School official contacted authorities last week, prompting what police are calling their largest-ever sexting investigation. In one sign of how quickly the photo spread, some of the original senders told police they had received it from other people last week, according to court documents.

Viewing the photograph and forwarding it are technically violations of child pornography statutes, though police and the Will County state's attorney's office say they typically handle such cases through juvenile probation. No one has been charged.

"It's something that's starting to become more and more of a problem," said Plainfield police Sgt. Anthony Novak, who supervises the department's four school-based officers.

A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 4 percent of teen cell phone owners ages 12 to 17 reported sending a "nude or nearly nude" image of themselves to one another and 15 percent reported receiving such a photo. The survey found that students whose parents paid their cell phone bill were less likely to send or receive such images.

It's not clear how many of Plainfield East's roughly 1,300 students received or forwarded the photo, but it could easily number in the hundreds, police said.

Police also aren't sure why the girl sent the photo, but they hope to retrieve text messages the two exchanged before and after it was sent, Novak said.

He described the girl and boy as acquaintances.

After a Plainfield East official contacted police Dec. 16, the girl told a detective she sent the "fully nude" photo of herself to a boy at the school this month, according to court documents. The boy told police he sent the photo to four other students, three of whom reported forwarding it.

Nine cell phones - including two that were already found to contain the photo - have been turned over to computer forensic specialists at the Will County Sheriff's Department.

A school district spokesman declined to comment Wednesday, citing student privacy concerns. School board Vice President Roger Bonuchi said only that parents should warn their children against "doing immoral acts."

Russell Sabella, a Florida professor who is past president of the American School Counselors Association, said even bright teens can be overly trusting. He advises students not to write or send anything they wouldn't want shared on stage.

Even if the person you're sexting doesn't forward the photo, he or she could lose their phone and someone else could distribute the images, Sabella said.

"It's such a devastating situation," Sabella said of the Plainfield case. "The schools have an opportunity here to help other kids understand the consequences - just because students don't see the victim (in person) doesn't mean the victim doesn't get hurt."

[macdaddy019967]

hey if someone has that pic send it to my phone lol
and what the fuck what a dumb ho'.....

[Dark Blue]

^^ yeah her fault, she should of known that would happen

[embm]

lol & smh @ mac

wat a slut/idiot

[macdaddy019967]

hey if someone has that pic send it to my phone lol
and what the fuck what a dumb ho'.....

No one but you would say that haha

its true though
and don't lie you know u want to see the pic 2

[Raquel]

She's is idiot, i can't understand why girls send nude pics.

[macdaddy019967]

She's is idiot, i can't understand why girls send nude pics.

to get the male aroused

[DrunkenDeath]

and to think thousands of these pictures and videos end up on unmonitored porn sites

[gutawafang]

Interesting. I want that photo. LMAO

[macdaddy019967]

Interesting. I want that photo. LMAO

haha i knew you would do the same Guta lol

[Hadez]

you guys are all blaming the girl. but if the guy had kept the picture to himself then it wouldn't have been an issue. they're both at fault.

[BLAHBLAHBLAH]

there was like a breakout of this near my town like last year. and like 50 kids got involved and when the police found the pictures they were threatening to charge all of them for making child porn. and they were all like 12!
but, i really don't understand why anyone would risk sending naked pictures not knowing where they are going to end up

[bom-bom]

ha! tis reminds me one girl that was in my class yeard ago, she did the same, took a pic of her naked and sent it to his "bf" ...the picture endep up in a lot of guys cell phones, even i saw it
u gotta be very stupid and a hoe to do that

[Hadez]

it's not like if somebody sends their boyfriend a picture like that it's guaranteed to end up on everyone's phone. if the guy wasn't such a punk ass it wouldn't happen. that "dude my girlfriend just sent me a nude pic dude" mentality that got him into this mess.

[macdaddy019967]

it's not like if somebody sends their boyfriend a picture like that it's guaranteed to end up on everyone's phone. if the guy wasn't such a punk ass it wouldn't happen. that "dude my girlfriend just sent me a nude pic dude" mentality that got him into this mess.

got her into a mess more like it