If You See Sexting, You May Have to Report Sexting

I posted earlier about laws that allow children to be prosecuted for sending nude pictures of themselves to other people. The situation actually gets worse in most states, which require mandated reports of sexting. Every state law that I know of requires mandated reports of sexual exploitation or child pornography. If your state’s child pornography statues do not exempt minors who create images of themselves, then your mandated reporter statute probably doesn’t either.

For example, the two states where I’m a member of the bar both require mandated reports. Georgia in its mandated reporter statute specifically lists the child pornography statute. That statute in turn exempts only people who possess, but don’t transmit, images of themselves.  It and the related electronic pornography statute reduce the penalties for minors in certain situations, but still make it illegal for a minor to send pornographic selfies.

North Carolina’s mandated reporter law includes the state obscenity statute in its definition of “abuse.” That statute, in turn, covers creation of obscene images, including posing, regardless of whether anyone distributes the images. There is no exception for minors or anyone taking selfies. Even worse, North Carolina is an “any person” state, meaning that every adult, including parents, is legally obligated to report pornographic selfies.

In both of those states, therefore, the well-intentioned child exploitation laws assume that the best way to help children following a destructive social trend is to prosecute them.  As in most states, the broad sweep of mandated reporter laws combine with the exploitation laws to create a reporting obligation that most people don’t know enough about.  Be certain that you understand the laws in your state so that you aren’t caught in an overzealous prosecution.