The Governor of Nevada signed a bill into law to reform that state’s laws on teen sexting.
Under the new law, as of July 1, “sexting” by a minor, will be considered a non-criminal act. If a juvenile has sexual images on his or her computer, mobile device, or cell phone, judges will now have the option of treating the offender as a “child in need of supervision”, instead of a child pornographer and registered sex offender.
This sensible bill recognizes that harsh penalties for dumb behavior is not the way to treat kids who make a foolish and impulsive decision. Sexting is a cultural phenomenon, and is something that is readily accessible to all teens.
The laws on possession of child pornography in Nevada where written in a different era, when it wasn’t so trivially simple to snap and share photos instantly. And there intent was clearly to punish adult predatory behavior, not adolescent experimentation.
Facing serious and life changing criminal penalties, and the prospect of being a registered sex offender is clearly overkill for the majority of these cases.
Judges do have the discretion to impose harsher sentences for repeat offenders, and if the circumstances may appear more nefarious.
More on Nevada criminal charges.
No related posts.
1 Comment
Britlyn Knowing that Nevada will not be registering teens as sex offenders for sexting is great. I feel better now knowing that the charges that face these teens for their impulsive acts are less cruel.
About