April 2, 2009
Federal Judge Sides with Teen Girls in Pa. Cell-phone ‘Sexting’ Case
A federal district judge in Allentown, Pa., has temporarily barred the district attorney of Wyoming County, Pa., from prosecuting three teen girls on felony child pornography charges for circulating two semi-nude photos of themselves to their classmates via cell phones two years ago. CNS News reports.
In one of the pictures, two 13-year-old girls posed together wearing bras, according to court documents. The other photo depicted a teen girl who was naked from the waist up.
The ACLU, representing the teens' parents, had filed suit against Wyoming County District Attorney George Skumanick Jr, who had said he would pursue felony charges against the girls unless they agreed to participate in a five-week after-school sexual-harassment program and probation.
“Here you have a prosecutor threatening children with very serious felony charges when he has no basis in law to do so,” said Vic Walczak, legal director for ACLU Pennsylvania and the plaintiffs’ attorney in the case.
Walczak and the ACLU also claim that the images are protected First Amendment speech – and that the girls didn't consent to having their pictures distributed.
The federal judge agreed with the ACLU.
Read full article.
Related: - Prosecutor sued over semi-nude teen photos case
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