Cell phone photos could make teens sex offenders

All because of photos on their cell phones.

Teens who take or send nude or revealing pictures via cell phones could be in deep water. This practice, dubbed "sexting," isn't just hitting the coasts.

One in 5 teens have sent or posted online nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves, according to a national survey by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

And that includes teens in Le Mars.

The Le Mars Police are in the middle of an investigation of a case of younger teenagers, 13 to 14 years old, taking allegedly inappropriate photos of each other on their cell phones.

Sexting has been reported in a few instances among Le Mars Community School (LCS) students, according to Assistant High School Principal Mark Iverson.

"In one case, a student let a boyfriend take pictures of her, and a friend got a hold of his phone and sent the pictures in a forward to others," Iverson said. "That happens often -- people forward things."

When the law gets involved, it may not matter if a teen took the photos, forwarded them, or innocently received them.

In all of those cases, a teen could face felony charges.

"Child pornography, distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography, plus they might have to register as a sex offender," Iverson said. "Even if you receive it and keep it on your phone, there could still be consequences. My advice: get rid of it."

Le Mars Police Chief Stuart Dekkenga said each case of sexting might be different.

According to Iowa law, if a person possesses an electronic file, like a picture or video on a cell phone, of a nude minor and if the picture is used for "arousing or satisfying the sexual desires of a person who may view the depiction," the person with the photos could face felony charges.

"The law applies across the whole spectrum -- not just adults," Dekkenga said.

Many teens don't realize how severe consequences could be for sending on a nude or obscene photo by cell phone, Iverson said.

"With cell phones and things, face to face conversation has decreased," he said, adding that, with that decrease, some social boundaries have been dropped. That, he said, might explain why teens might think it's OK to send revealing photos of themselves to others.

"People believe whoever they're sending it to is trustworthy," Dekkenga said.

But a message sent cannot be retrieved, he said.

According to the national survey by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 38 percent of teens said they had received sexually suggestive texts originally meant for someone else.

"Once you send it you lose all control," Iverson said. "Someone could post it on the internet. Who knows? What you put out there is open for people to see."

Iverson warned it might not stop there.

"You could be applying for a job, and when they do a search for you, all these pictures pop up," he said. "That doesn't look good for a job interview."

At LCS, the administration has discussed adding a section to the health program at the school to discuss sexting and the legal consequences.

"Cell phones are a whole new area of school enforcement," Iverson said.

But most sexting happens outside of school, he added.

"Parents," Iverson said, "talk to your kids about the legal consequences."