The ‘Sexting’ Quagmire: Criminal Justice Responses to Adolescents’ Electronic Transmission of Indecent Images in the UK and the USA

Abstract

Adolescent embrace of electronic communication with peers often involves sharing indecent images of each other, sometimes with abusive consequences. How should the criminal justice system respond? Use of conventional child pornography legislation can be inappropriately heavy-handed and draconian. This article considers recent developments in the United States and considers how this mode of juvenile indiscretion fits with law, policy and practice in England and Wales.

Keywords

adolescence free speech pornography privacy sexual offending youth justice

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Association of Chief Police Officers (2011) Position on Young People who Post Self-taken Indecent Images. London: ACPO. Accessible at: http://www.ceop.police.uk/Documents/ceopdocs/externaldocs/ACPO_Lead_position_on_Self_Taken_Images.pdf

Australian Privacy Foundation (2010) Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs Regarding the Inquiry into the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sex Offences Against Children) Bill. Accessible at: http://www.privacy.org.au/Papers/LegCon-SexOffChn-100223.pdf

Bennion

(2008) Bennion on Statutory Interpretation, 5th Edition. London: LexisNexis.

Cillizza

(2011) Who had the worst week in Washington? For the third time, Anthony Weiner. Washington Post, 17 June 2011.

Corbett

(2009) Let’s talk About Sext: The challenge of finding the right legal response to the teenage practice of ‘Sexting’. Journal of Internet Law 13(6): 3–8.

Crown Prosecution Service (2010a) The Code for Crown Prosecutors. London: CPS.

Crown Prosecution Service (2010b) Youth Offenders. Accessible at: http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/v_to_z/youth_offenders/#a06

Hoffman

(2011) Poisoned web: A girl’s nude photo and altered lives. New York Times, 26 March 2011.

Home Office (2006) The Final Warning Scheme. Home Office Circular 14/2006. London:Home Office. Accessible at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/home-office-circulars/circulars-2006/014-2006/annex-c-and-d?view=Binary

10.

Katzman

(2010) Sexting: Keeping teens safe and responsible in a technologically savvy world. Paediatric Child Health 15(1): 41–42.

11.

Jolicoeur

Zedlewski

(2010) Much Ado About Sexting. NCJ 230795 National Institute of Justice Discussion Paper. Accessible at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/230795.pdf

12.

Leary

(2007) Self-produced child pornography: The appropriate societal response to juvenile self-sexual exploitation. Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law 15(1): 1–50.

13.

Leary

(2010) Sexting or Self-produced child pornography? The dialogue continues. Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law 17(3): 487–566.

14.

Lenhart

(2009) Teens and Sexting. Pew Research Center: Washington DC. Accessible at: http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2009/PIP_Teens_and_Sexting.pdf

15.

McLaughlin

(2010) Crime and punishment: Teen sexting in context. Penn State Law Review 115(1): 135–181.

16.

Phippen

(2009) Sharing Personal Images and Videos Among Young People. Exeter: South-West Grid for Learning. Accessible at: http://www.swgfl.org.uk/Staying-Safe/Files/Documents/sexting-summary

17.

Quayle

(2008) The COPINE Project. Irish Probation Journal 5: 65–83.

18.

Richards

Calvert

(2009) When sex and cell phones collide: Inside the prosecution of a teen sexting case. Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal 32(1): 1–39.

19.

Sacco

(2010) Sexting: Youth Practices and Legal Implications. Cambridge, MA: Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

20.

Sentencing Advisory Panel (2002) The Panel’s Advice to the Court of Appeal on Offences involving Child Pornography. London: Sentencing Advisory Panel.

21.

Sentencing Guidelines Council (2007) Sexual Offences Act 2003: Definitive Guideline. London: Sentencing Guidelines Council.

22.

Sentencing Guidelines Council (2009) Overarching Principles: Sentencing Youths (Definitive Guideline). London: Sentencing Guidelines Council.

23.

Svantesson

(2010) Sexting and Australia’s regulation of child pornography. Internet Law Bulletin 13(2): 34–35.

24.

Wastler

(2010) The harm in ‘sexting’?: Analyzing the constitutionality of child pornography statutes that prohibit the voluntary production, possession and dissemination of sexually explicit images by teenagers. Harvard Journal of Law and Gender 33: 687–702.