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Teens and parents should be aware of ‘sexting’ dangers

On Behalf of | Mar 29, 2017 | Criminal Defense

Mobile service companies are constantly competing with each other for new (and existing) customers. They all offer various forms of family plans to gain new subscribers, and they try to make it easy to switch from one provider to another through financial incentives.

But it is not just the plans that are the draw; the chance to have the latest smartphone (or to trade one in quickly) that has consumers (especially teenagers) clamoring to join a carrier.

Indeed, this enables teens to share their lives like never before. They can take goofy pictures of themselves, and post them instantly (through Instagram, for example). While this may seem like a “cool” way to share one’s life, it can also have its downsides, especially when they send illicit photos of themselves.

Little do teens know, but sending sexually explicit pictures, also known as “sexting” could be considered a crime under Ohio law as well as federal law. Because of the potential (and unintended) consequences, it is critical for parents have conversations with their teenage kids about the dangers of sexting.

Kids should know how quickly pictures could be spread and who could see them and the criminal implications of being convicted of a sex crime. It would be especially tragic for a child to face potential jail time and sex offender registration for something they had no idea was a crime.

If your teen has been charged with a crime or is being investigated for potential criminal charges, contacting an experienced criminal defense attorney can help in seeing that available defenses are used to protect your child’s rights.