Comments on: Police blotter: Teens prosecuted for racy photos

In this week's installment, a teen is prosecuted for taking risque photos of herself and her teenage beau and e-mailing them to him.

[setheck]

Welcome to 1984

"Court records don't say exactly what happened next--perhaps the parents wanted to end the relationship and raised the alarm--but somehow Florida police learned about the photos."

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!!!

[inouyde]

Stupid? Yes. Felons? No.

Too bad there isn't some general misdemeanor charge for being a ******* that can be expunged once you reach 18.

[fabled1]

Who should be charged with the dumbass violation?

I agree but I also think there are alot of adults involved in this debacle that maybe should be slapped with a ******* charge that can't be expunged because they have no excuse- including (and most of all) the DA, the various judges and police officers and the parents. The more I read about this case, the more pissed off I get at what a bunch of idiots are in occupations that give them power and responsibility. You think someone along the way would have figured out they were a ******* and booted them right out of the judicial system. Kind of fits in with this Bush administration, though. Business as usual...

[phantomsoul]

So Let Me Get This Straight...

This conviction was upheld solely for a crime that COULD HAVE BEEN COMMITTED? Doesn't this sound just a little like guilty unless proven innocent?

Don't get me wrong here, I'm all for preserving the innocence of our kids, but do we not also have a constitutional obligation to not hold someone felon unless we can demonstrate that they ACTUALLY DID DO something felonious?

Sounds to me like a sad state of affair where people are fishing for ways to put other people away just because they don't like them...

[macsux]

The system is the abuser of children in this case

these people can't step back and look at what they are doing. the whole premise of that law is to protect minors. By persecuting minors and bringing public attention to what they did they are no better then the people that law was designed to protect minors from...

[anarchyreigns]

The D.A. should be shot in the face for crimes against humanity!!!!

<eom>

[HandGlad2]

So the perpetrator and the victim are the same person?

That's hilarious. Will they be able to get the victim to testify? If so, I can't wait for the victim impact statement.

[vanvanhorn]

Imagine the possibilities!

If I grab my camera, jump in my car, and drive away, have I committed larceny? And if I bring a couple of my better lenses, sending the total value well over a thousand dollars, is it grand larceny?

I wouldn't think so, but you better not try it in Florida!

Van

[rite_edge]

Then masterbation is clearly child molestation

Obviously true. Case closed. Next?

[o2mcgovem-20822100750713932708]

Masturbation

The cool cats spell it with a u.



I can tell you're a cool cat, so this was clearly just a lapse in cool cattiness.

(Cattiness as in Cat-like, not as in malicious or anything.)

[HandGlad2]

This story is worthless without pics!

This story is worthless without pics!

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Yes, and...

this whole case is just an excuse for the police, DA, and judge to have a big weasel-whacking festival.

[open-mind]

CNet Ignores the Important Facts!!

Did Amber and Jeremy use Windows or Macintosh?

On one hand, Macintosh is often better suited for creative individuals who enjoy working with photography and graphics. That would certainly apply here.

On the other hand, the vast majority of degenerate sex offenders and child pornographers prefer to use Windows for their criminal activities.

On a side note, the article does state that "transferring the images from a digital camera to a PC created innumerable problems: "'The two computers (can) be hacked.'" Usage of the words "hack", "problems", and "PC" would generally imply that Amber and Jeremy were using some version of Windows. But if this is true, what version? Was it Vista?!?

The extremely high cost of Vista might explain why Amber and Jeremy felt the need to sell their child porn in the first place. Then their actions were clearly justified.

I can't understand how CNet could ignore these important facts. Typical shoddy reporting from CNet.





(Yes, all of the above is sarcasm.)

[DraconumPB]

MOD PARENT UP

omg! Windows just gets hacked more because it's more common! I have Windows and I love it! Blargh, you're a Mac zealot and your opinion is biased!

Down with Mac! Down with Linux! Down with Sandwiches!

(continuing the sarcasm train. Very apt observation my friend - about CNet comment threads, I mean.)

[sandkicker]

Law not driven by common sense

Law today, is not driven by common sense.

Law is driven by political expediency and religiously over zealous judges and prosecutors, who propose their moral values should dictate what is good or not good for society.

The legal system has perpetrated itself and being our watchers and conscience.

Our legal system and the judges would split a baby in half rather than use the sense of Solomon.

As stated in another post earlier, a gun might be used to kill someone, by judicial logic as proposed in this article everyone in the NRA should be in jail. And lets not forget that black robes are technically dresses, think about it.

[Xenu7-214951314497503184010868]

Punishing documentation but not the act

If the underlying act is not a crime, then documenting it should not be a crime either. Stupid, yes. A crime, no.

I wonder if these moronic judges will make these kids register as sex offenders too. Bad reasoning. Bad logic. Totally ignores the public policy objectives underlying the law they used to prosecute these kids.

[stopher2475]

Stay out of people's bedroom.

"We have to protect them from their lack of judgement."
By slapping them with a criminal charge that will ruin their lives forever? That's protection? These people need to stay out of other peoples lives.
50 years ago it wouldn't be too uncommon for a 16 and 17 yr old to be married. This is using a criminal statue to morally police personal behavior.

[lormahoykyd2007]

Everyone write and call the Judge Non-stop

They are in fact ruining the lives of these children they are trying to protect. They will be put on sex-offender lists. Have great restrictions on where they can live and work. Those of you who are Montel fans have seen a case like this already where the teen girl was coaxed to send the nude pics to and older man. He got off scot free and she was charged with promoting sexual performance of a child. She can't go to school, Her parents had to move because their house was too close to a school. The girl was 13 at the time. What kind of Judges do we have in this country. I can't wait for them to meet their make and explain. Maybe they were just pissed they didn't get the pictures.

[darth eletius]

a self portrait illegal paparazzi?

If a teenager intends to keep something like this private, then someone attempts to obtain it, this is a privacy violation, not the fault of the admittedly foolish teen who created and/or transmitted it. It is ridiculous to accuse them, both minors, of distributing or possessing child pornography when they intend to keep it between themselves. If I have something that I want kept private that authorities would frown on, say, a pointless rant on how stupid the president is, and I would like him dead, but contains no semblance of a viable plan to do him in at all, simply rants, and someone cracks my computer and gets it, am I plotting to kill the president? No, even if I have not gone to the trouble of triple-firewalling my computer and placing it behind a NAT router, it is still my property and anyone who would like to remain on the good end of the law would do best not to access it without my permission. The same concept holds true of my email accounts other than the information being subject to deletion at the whim of the email provider. There is one proper course of action here: The state must drop the charges against these foolish teens, let them recover from their humiliation and hopefully learn from their mistake.

[Bob H in NPR]

self portrait illal pap.

Triple firewalls do n0ot protect you for any info you put over the Net. The info is already our there & IS traceable. And our dear President has signed an executive order demanding all IP addresses & all personal info given to net content providers, & to flag any that contain certain words & phrases to the appropriate Federal agencies.

That is the law as it currently stands. Google is the only such company to refuse & have gone to court to overturn that order. they are winning so far, but it will be up to the Supreme Court before it is over.

You are whistling in the dark if you believe you have any privacy rights over what you send over the web

[picketech]

Racy Photos

I can remember in the 90's when my son went to high school and I tried to get a report card copy of my sons grades from school, I was told I had to get my sons permission because he was older than 15, and considered an adult and as such the school was unalble to give me a copy. It is my belief that in order to prosecute these two with the idea in mind that they were creating/sending/whatever child porongraphy over the net one must first come to a good resolution as to what is a minor and at what age, and what is an adult and at what age.
It seems ludecrous that the state can have 150 definitions of what is a minor and what is an adult, and then apply the rules as they see fit. I always think what's good for the goose is good for the gander. It seems that Laws are created for the lawyers, rather than to protect the weak and the innocent.

[milette]

Y'all have no friggin idea...

Y'all have no friggin idea the extent your traffic is monitored and WILL be used against you.

EVERY Byte is monitored and if you fall into the filters, your email messages, web surfing, VOIP calls and anything else deemed interesting ot the government WILL be monitored and used against you.

Welcome to Big Brother -- he's already HERE and WATCHING.

[Endlezz]

Unbelievable

I've been reading news on CNET, CNN and some other major websites for the last two years, and this is the first time I post a comment. Every day my disbelief grows larger and larger. Years I thought of America as the place to be, but after all I've read these last months, my opinion has completely changed.

People (and companies) are prosecuted for the most stupid things, sometimes for millions of dollars, victims are penalized, ... Movies where dozens of people get killed are no problem but if a breast is shown then the whole country goes nuts... Priorities are completely ****** up at every level of your society.

Most Americans seem to have lost their common sense (often because of religion?). It might still be a great country to visit as a tourist, but it's mighty dangerous. Please take no offence.

[lightshade]

The Police and Parents Should Be Prosecuted...

The police and (if I understand correctly) the parents should be prosecuted. From the accounts it seems that the photos were never meant to be seen by anyone other than the two teenagers involved.

These laws were put in place to protect Minors, but what has been done? They have plastered this knowledge across headlines around the world now.

These police and parents have done more damage to these children than the children themselves ever could have gotten into on their own. They turned a completely private issue into a public issue and it never should have occurred. This is completely horrible.

The parents should never have made this public and the police never should have pursued this. Any "wrongs" that were committed were made a hundred times worse by the actions taken by the supposed "Adults" in this case.

These "Adults" have placed a stigmatism on these children that they may never lose. These "Adults" should be prosecuted.

[zyodei]

Who comitted the crime here?

I disagree with only one thing: The implication that the children did ANYTHING wrong. Kids will be kids, it sounds entirely harmless. Even if they had sold the photos, who is harmed by it? Them?

The prosecutors should be immediately disbarred. If anyone in Florida is reading this, they sould raise hell. In fact, they shouldn't just be disbarred: They should be put in prison. Their actions directly violated the rights, bodies, and liberties of another person. They should absolutely be put in prison.

The parents - well, not much can be said about them. They will probably never speak with the children again, their relationship will become estranged and they will lose their children. It serves them right.

The children, in this crucial juncture of their lives, will be spending time they should be spending studying, applying for college, and becoming useful members of society dealing with courts and becoming angstful about this.

The children have undoubtedly been harmed by this "child pornography| - but not by the photos, but by the egregious and malicious reactions of the "adults" around them!

But then, where is the difference between this and arresting a drug user, punishing the victim? Both cases are equally immoral and wrong. It is a crime to violate anothers' rights, it doesn't matter if you're wearing a suit and tie or skating clothes.

I hope these prosecutors burn in hell, after they are disbarred and imprisoned.

[fabled1]

This is ludicrous...

There are so many things about this case and story that just make me think that everyone involved will look back ten years from now and realize people had lost their minds.

1) Parents find the photos of their 16 or 17 year old and turn them into the police. To protect them?

2)My understanding is that the average age of first time consensual sex is between 16 and 17 years old, but many are starting much earlier.(In otherwords, most kids,including us, when we were young,have or will have sex as teenagers. Its okay to have sex but not okay to take a photo of it?Hmmmm?)

3)Is it illegal to have sex with a minor if you are a minor? Never has been that I ever heard of.

4)The child pronography laws are put in place to keep unscruplous, twisted, devaint pedophiles from exploiting children sexually for profit. A 16 and 17 year old having sex and taking photos with their camera phone to keep privately themselves somehow does not seem to fall into the child pornography category.

5) As a matter of fact, if the parents had not turned them in to the police, it is most likely no one besides the two teenagers would ever have seen the pictures.

6) This crap about the photos being emailed by her to him, and what a risk they were taking by sending the photos over the Internet (and by doing so they somehow had become pornographers)is almost too ignorant to comment on. I send alot of stuff by email, I doubt anything has ever been stolen, however I'm sure there were evil doers just waiting for these two to take some nudie pics and email them, so they could hack their connection and steal the photos.

7)If our goal is to teach our children, and protect them, how in the hell does this case protect or help anybody or any cause-wherin they are thrown into jail (two seemingly naive but good kids) , into the public eye in a sex and pornography debacle, and into a living hell for years to come?

I really will ponder the ignorance of this debacle for a long time to come and I'm surprised I feel this way (because I have a daughter),but... this reeks of a tremendous invasion of privacy particulalry because without the invasion of privacy there was no wrongdoing. No one had broken a law, since the two consenting teenagers were the only ones to see their photos. Once their privacy was violated, then others saw the photos and now we have a case against them? What??

How come this didn't get thrown out of court? I guess too many of the judicial side of this wanted to see the pictures too, and they couldn't do that without going to trial...

Ken

[mskorders]

mental giants - NOT

When I read this story, I couldn't believe it,
but then I noticed it happened in Florida.

That 2 teens would react intimately with each
other at a time when their hormones are
screaming is not news. That judges would side
with a prosecutor and judge these kids as
criminals for behaving as kids speaks volumes
about the qualifications of judges and
prosecutors in Florida; but then what else can
one expect from a state that's incapable of even
conducting a vote?

Mike K.