Teenage Sexting in Utah

Juvenile Sex Crimes Defense in Salt Lake City

Adults can’t give porn to kids.  If they do, it’s a felony.  Giving porn to kids can occur in many different forms: buying magazines, showing them websites, or watching it on cable television.  Likewise, kids can’t give other kids porn, even if it’s consensual.  This becomes very problematic these days because of the instant communications allowed by smartphones.

With the advent of smartphones, a new phenomenon has arisen: the selfy (selfie).  The selfy is a fully or partially nude picture taken of oneself by oneself with his or her camera and then sent via text message or email to someone else.  A selfy received is often reciprocated with the recipient sending his or her own selfy to the original producer.  In other words, the exchange of selfies becomes a completely legitimate transaction.

Utah law, however, prohibits the transmission of selfies by underage persons to other underage persons.  The transmission of selfies is considered dealing in harmful materials to minors.  If the kid is 16 or 17 the transmission of a selfy is a class A misdemeanor.  If the kid is under 16 years old it is class B misdemeanor.  If the kid has multiple offenses he can then be convicted of felony.

Child Pornography?

With underage selfies comes the potential for child pornography charges.  If a kid receives a selfy from someone and then distributes that selfy on the internet or to others, there is a potential that the district attorney could bring charges for distributing child pornography.

Whether your child is dealing with exchanging selfies or has more serious charges of possessing or distributing child pornography, our Salt Lake City juvenile defense attorneys can help.  Contact us at 801.618.1334 for a free consultation.  Dealing with sex crimes in juvenile court is a stressful time for the kid being charged and his parents so it is important that you have experienced legal counsel at your side to help you through the process.

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