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SEXting not a threat to Lamar

Posted by
Rachel McDaniel
in News
Tuesday, June 30. 2009
Comments (7)
Teens or adults caught sexting are facing stiffer penalties than ever before. In Georgia, anyone with a nude cell phone photo of a person under age 16 can face felony child molestation charges, which would mark them as a sex offender for life.

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#1 Billky on 06/30/09 at 10:22 PM
If two 15 year olds agree to swap nude photos they are classified as a sex offender for life. A 50 year old forces a 4 year old in a sex act and takes photos, he receives the same punishment. Doesn't anyone else see the difference between teens normal interest in sex and the actions of a sexual predator? The felony charges and sex offender classifications for teens sexting is beyond stupid. Latest studies show 22% of all teens sext. If I were a Georgia legislator I would be embarrassed to admit, I voted for a law that could classify 22% of our teens as felony sex offenders. You have a high opinion of our children. Change the laws for juveniles and sexting.
#2 Anonymous on 06/30/09 at 11:56 PM
Sexting is happening in Lamar all the time. But like #1 states local law enforcement isnt going to arrest and register a child as a sex offender for life. Its not the cop's job to raise and monitor children. Parents need to keep up with what their child is doing. Fortunately we have police officers here with common sense and are working to correct this problem without arrests. Except of course the middle school child that was arrested on school campus for this. Thats another story though. Maybe I should say "most" local law enforcement are approaching different methods.
#3 Anonymous on 07/01/09 at 06:18 AM
This is what happens when legislators and people pushing them are ruled by reaction and hate instead of intellect. There are a lot of dumb laws, but this has to be one of the dumbest.

When I was a teenager my best friend (female) who was 15 was sleeping with a 18 year old (male). That would label him for life as a sex predator.
#4 Billky on 07/01/09 at 04:31 PM
I am sure Lamar has an excellent police department with many dedicated employees. A police officers job is to enforce the law. If they find a violation they are to investigate the offense and turn over the results of their investigation to prosecutors. The prosecutor then decides what laws were violated and the charges to be filed. The prosecutors are also sworn to uphold the laws. If the evidence is there, they have no choice but to file felony sex offender charges against the child. If you google "sexting teens" you will find many cases where "good kids" that did a stupid act are now classified as felony sex offenders. The only way to stop this is to change the laws for juveniles and sexting.
#5 Anonymous on 07/02/09 at 02:06 PM
The middle school child was not arrested on school property. He was released to his parents. There is a law officer in this county that thinks its ok to intimidate minors when their parents aren't around. There were SEVERAL kids involved and more that have been named since. Sexting is happening in Lamar County. What gets me is that it seems like the male children are the ones that are punished the most. You know, if girls send pictures to a boy first you would think that they would also be punished just as he was. But not in our town. (Guess it helps when your parent is in law enforcement) The punishment really does not fit the "crime" in most cases. Why do you want to ruin a childs life for good by marking him as a sex offender? Most of us as adults and most teens have had phone coversations, pictures, and physical contact of some sort of sexual context! That doesnt mean that you should face 5 years in jail, no college, and not have a decent job in your life does it? Children live in the now. They dont think ahead most times nor are aware of the severe consequences of their actions.Parents can do everything in their power to protect and keep their children from doing wrong and stupid things. Sometimes they find ways around mom and dad. Every parent should think long and hard before they hand their minor a cell phone these days. (check your kids myspace daily also, or do away with it all together) Most of you would be shocked at what your precious angels are doing behind your back! It is a very costly and heart breaking thing to go through. I wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy. Word of advice...always get a lawyer if you are ever faced with this!!!
#6 Anonymous on 07/04/09 at 08:58 AM
WHAT?!?! I know the parents of one of the female children involved at the middle school and saw the female's phone myself. There was most certainly solicitation by the male. In fact, there was also a good deal of pressuring. I don't believe he should be labeled for life because like you said, children live in the "now" and do not realize the long term effect things will have. Even the hormones that are raging and the couriousity is normal but ALL of the children involved need to be made very aware of how serious this could be. What happens when this stuff gets put online by someone? These kids might as well be labeled then, because once a college or employer googles the childs name....they are pretty well screwed. As far as a parent being in law enforcement goes, that is nothing more than a crutch for you because I can assure you it didn't matter. What matter was the extreme nature of what was sent to the little girl. Maybe if you want to publicly air complaints about a juvenille case you should compare the severity of what the children did because I must say, I was stunned. (by the way.....Extreme caution should be taken when discussing a juvenille case because by law all of the children involved are protected by law from being publicly thrown the the wolves so to speak. You commented on "labeling" so just remember this is Lamar County and people here are brutal and don't let things go....so I wouldn't push it.)
#7 Anonymous on 07/05/09 at 10:02 AM
Your right, juvenile cases are very private and should be kept that way. I dont believe that the paper should have even mentioned any specifics of any case that has happened!! They definitely should know better. Some of the specifics they did mention were incorrect. That is why I commented. I dont care what county this is or what kind of people live here, what's done is done. Everyone needs to go on with their lives. If you cant let things go after people have been punished then you have issues. Empty threats on a blog page dont mean anything. Also, the children should be warned that they need to keep their mouths shut about things also and quit putting their business and rumors about others around the school. Every party involved was wrong in what they did. Hopefully the kids have learned hard lessons about life and will think before doing next time. Maybe this school year the kids can learn acedemics and not be so worried about everything else.
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