(Coaster)

TRENTON, N.J. – A 14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography after posting nearly 30 explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com — charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted.

The case comes as prosecutors nationwide pursue child pornography cases resulting from kids sending nude photos to one another over cell phones and e-mail. Legal experts, though, could not recall another case of a child porn charge resulting from a teen's posting to a social networking site.

MySpace would not comment on the New Jersey investigation, but the company has a team that reviews its network for inappropriate images. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped off a state task force, which alerted the Passaic County Sheriff's Office.

The office investigated and discovered the Clifton resident had posted the "very explicit" photos of herself, sheriff's spokesman Bill Maer said Thursday.

"We consider this case a wake-up call to parents," Maer said. The girl posted the photos because "she wanted her boyfriend to see them," he said.

Investigators are looking at individuals who "knowingly" committed a crime, he said, declining to comment further because the case is still being investigated.

The teen, whose name has not been released because of her age, was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. She was released to her mother's custody.

If convicted of the distribution charge, she would be forced to register with the state as a sex offender under Megan's Law, said state Attorney General Anne Milgram. She also could face up to 17 years in jail, though such a stiff sentence is unlikely.

Some observers — including the New Jersey mother behind the creation of Megan's Law — are criticizing the trend of prosecuting teens who send racy text messages or post illicit photos of themselves.

Maureen Kanka — whose daughter, Megan, became the law's namesake after she was raped and killed at age 7 in 1994 by a twice-convicted sex offender — blasted authorities for charging the 14-year-old girl.

The teen needs help, not legal trouble, she said.

"This shouldn't fall under Megan's Law in any way, shape or form. She should have an intervention and counseling, because the only person she exploited was herself."

Called "sexting" when it's done by cell phone, teenagers' habit of sending sexually suggestive photos of themselves and others to one another is a nationwide problem that has confounded parents, school administrators and law enforcers.

Prosecutors in states including Pennsylvania, Connecticut, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin have tried stop it by charging teens who send and receive the pictures.

In northeastern Pennsylvania, a prosecutor recently threatened to file child porn charges against three teenage girls who authorities say took racy cell-phone pictures that ended up on classmates' cell phones.

The MySpace case may be a first, though.

"I'm not sure I've seen a prosecution like this coming out of a social networking site," said Seth Kreimer, a constitutional law professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Milgram, the attorney general, could not recall another such case in New Jersey. She cautioned parents to get on those sites and monitor what their kids are talking about and posting.

"Unfortunately, youth don't have the same judgment as adults," she said, "and often, adults don't have the same technical savvy as the youth."

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What the 14 yr old did was wrong.
What the prosecution is doing is wrong.

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Plug me into somethin'

If the theory does not conform to the facts, then the facts must be discarded.

No good deed ever goes unpunished

Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level, & beat you with experience.

That's the message I got.

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The law is not keeping up with technology.

The kids should be counselled, and for repeats, fined and had the net with-held.

This will drive the whole thing underground and no-one will learn anything from the exercise.

Paedophiles won't be able to trawl for sexting offerings?

Just a thought, is an American in possession of naked photos of a 17 year old Brit in breach of the Law?

Is a 17 year old Brit in breach of American law if an American downloads the image?

Can he/she be extradited to face charges in an American court for an act which is frowned on, but not (as) illegal in the UK?

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

A foreign national who violates American law by accessing data illegaly in the U.S. can be extradited to stand trial there.

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Eudaimonia

It all depends on which state the 17yr old lives in. Some states legal age of consent is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_o...n_North_America

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An image produced in Britain of a 17 year old, accessed by an American from a British site, the American in a state where the age of consent is 18?

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Calm, quiet, smooth, devastating

Times, they are a changing.The worse thing is that the last generation has given the new generation the tools.

I cannot relate to the 14r old!I grew u in Conn but when I was 14,I didn't
know what a cellphone or the internet was.I graduated High School at 17 &
enlisted in the Armed Forces about 2mo later.My parents had to sign for me
because you have to be 18 to sign yourself in.YES-I'd do it all over again!
Irish

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Irish---Better to be dead & cool,then alive & uncool!
(Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man)

This is a true case of the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Also the excuse is deplorable on the girls part....she posted the pics so her bf could see them. Umm hello it is a social website where everyone can see them!!!!

Also the pressue and also seeing her own peers doing this behaviour doesn't help.

It makes one wonder where were the parents when all this was going on? Oh I know they were too worried about there own crap to notice what she was doing.

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My stories
An erotic story
The instructor and student
Secretary learns how to take a dicktation
The story of sister stephanie

The pictures need not be where everyone can see them. You can make your pictures only available to your MySpace friends and not public.

I haven't looked at the settings lately, it might even be possible to let only one of your friends have access to them, I know you can do that on Facebook.

To be fair on the parents, 14 year old girls can be the most secretive, devious people going. I know, I remember being one I kept everything from my mother. She only found out about things on the few occasions I got caught and I was then suitably punished. She wasn't doing anything wrong as a parent, she couldn't have made me share what I was getting up, I wouldn't have divulged anything to her for love nor money.

And not just 14 year old girls.

People in general are sexual beings, and this is why attempts to demonize and regulate sexual behavior are a) supid, and b) will always be doomed to failure.

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On the kinkometer, my kink measures as a sine wave.

As the norms of sexual behavior change from culture to culture, and from time to time within a culture, I suggest that “society” routinely influences and regulates its members’ behavior quite successfully – otherwise there would be no differences.

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Eudaimonia

Well there are differences in all of them. We have all heard of the various things done to girls in other countries some of which I prefer not to say as they are just way to degrading.

I have heard of young women in the greek community only offering anal sex to guys so they stay a virgin for when they get married etc.

__________________
My stories
An erotic story
The instructor and student
Secretary learns how to take a dicktation
The story of sister stephanie