Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Stephanie F. Brown, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
A teenage boy from Atlanta, Georgia recently broke up with his girlfriend by sending her, her mother, and her sisters nude images of himself via cell phone text message. According to Cecily Hill, the Republican State Representative for Kingsland, Georgia, the boy could not be charged with any specific crime; that has led Kingsland to introduce legislation that would make so-called “sexting” – sending nude images over cell phone text messaging systems – illegal. It represents an update to a current law that prohibits transmitting obscene images of minors on floppy disks, CDs, or computer bulletin boards.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation supports the bill, but spokesperson John Bankhead said that care must be taken in writing the bill so that children sending images to other children without the intent to engage in child pornography or without appreciation of the consequences would not be permanently labeled as sex offenders.
The Georgia House is also considering legislation that would broaden the definition of rape; the current law only includes females and children under the age of ten years old. Proponents say that the current law leaves young boys who are targeted by sexual predators out in the cold.
Both bills, if they pass, promise to make it clearer what is acceptable behavior and what is not when it comes to sexual content or sexual activity involving minors.
Find out more about this story at Camden’s Hill lodges bill to make ‘sexting’ illegal.