I'm guessing most will agree with this...

[R13]

A Senate committee has unanimously endorsed reduced penalties for sexually explicit text messages.

Both the House and the Senate are considering bills to separate "sexting" from child pornography laws. As written, those laws could land a teenager in prison and on the state's sex offender registry, punishment legislators agree is too harsh for the circumstances.

Sen. Jim Merritt's (R-Indianapolis) bill would make sexting a juvenile offense instead of placing it in adult court. It would also require parents to attend counseling sessions with their children.

The full Senate could take up the bill as early as Monday.

A House committee is considering a bill authored by Orleans Democrat Sandy Blanton to add text messaging to the state's laws on cyberbullying. That bill would turn over the broader question of how to punish sexting to a study committee.

Micah Clark, president of the American Family Association's Indiana chapter, says a national survey finds 30-percent of teenagers have received an unsolicited, sexually explicit text message.


Senate Committee Passes Sexting Bill | Indy's News Center - 93.1 WIBC Indianapolis - Live. Local. First.

[Biggin]

f'n ridiculous

what right does the government have to invade people's privacy like that?

and what exactly is sexting? how is it defined? just pictures, or illicit words, sentences?

what if someone accidentally sends a dirty text to a 17 year old, when trying to send it to their 20 year old spouse/lover?
you go to jail for an accident?

this is ridiculous.

if a teenage girl decides to send pictures to a juvenile guy, why punish either one?

child porn is wrong, totally. but this is insane, the government is now gonna read every single person's text messages?

Land of the free? haha

[R13]

I think it's like anything else, it has to be "caught" by someone, then can be prosecuted. It's stupid. It's not even really the 18+ getting in trouble with it, as much as it is the 14-15 year olds sending it to 14-15 year olds...apparently it's still child porn if it's a picture of yourself, that you took yourself, if you're a minor - WTF? Some of these kids, have been listed as "sex offenders" and until this law(which is just in this one state) is a major felony. Just for sending pics back and forth of people your same age, you're a felon and listed as a sex offender?


What get's me, is that the media and parents were all of the sudden outraged and worried, when this has been going on for as long as there have been camera phones. It's laughable that they are just catching on to this, then blowing it up into something this serious...but what's not funny, is ruining kids lives over it.

[Milk3]

There should be no punishment for kids doing this. It's their f'in business and if their parents find stuff like this let them take care of it! Every time i see something like this it ****es me off.It's NOBODIES business except the kids and maybe the parents that's it !