Authorities have charged a total of 20 students following a sexting investigation that centered on two schools in Cape May County, New Jersey. The prosecutor’s office charged 19 juveniles and one 18-year-old student from the Lower Cape May Regional High with invasion of privacy.
Investigators say that a female student told school officials that boys were passing around naked pictures of her friend by text. During the course of the investigation, authorities seized and analyzed 27 cell phones.
Officials say nude and partially nude photographs of female students were being exchanged between male students through text message and social media. Passing nude photos is potentially committing a crime. The distribution of child pornography is a 2nd degree crime.
“The girls know that the boys trade them and it’s kind of a game that the girls want to be involved in,” the parent said. A parent of one of the charged boys says it was several girls who shared the photos.
Why do children sext? They do not understand the long and short tem ramifications of doing so. These photos have a way of reaching parents, colleges and employers. Part of the responsibility of schools is to educate them before it is too late.