'Sexts' Lead to Felony Child Porn Case Against High School Student, 17
A Texas teenager is now a defendant in a felony child-pornography case after allegedly persuading a 16-year-old classmate to send him a topless photo from her cell phone via text message.
He then is accused of demanding a fully nude photo—and threatening to send the topless shot to others if she didn’t, the Monitor reports.
Called to the assistant principal’s office after the unidentified 16-year-old complained to Palmview High School authorities, 17-year-old Jorge Suchil confessed, the newspaper reports.
In addition to the topless shot from the 16-year-old, at least five nude “sext” messages from other minors also were on his cell phone, Raul Gonzalez tells the Monitor. Gonzalez is the chief of police for the La Joya school district.
As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, a prosecutor has been barred from pursuing similar charges against teens in Wyoming County, Pa., where a federal district court injunction was upheld by the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Investigating teen sexts has also proven perilous to officials in some cases.
Hat tip: Mom Houston (Houston Chronicle).
Updated at 2:30 p.m. to link to earlier ABAJournal.com coverage.
