NJ girl, 14, arrested after posting nude pics

[Kat]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gebS2MKqUm9cqEj6s0Rv9gQVvY6AD97608480

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A 14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography after posting nearly 30 explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com — charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted.

The case comes as prosecutors nationwide pursue child pornography cases resulting from kids sending nude photos to one another over cell phones and e-mail...

...If convicted of the distribution charge, she would be forced to register with the state as a sex offender under Megan's Law, said state Attorney General Anne Milgram. She also could face up to 17 years in jail, though such a stiff sentence is unlikely...

...Maureen Kanka — whose daughter, Megan, became the law's namesake after she was raped and killed at age 7 in 1994 by a twice-convicted sex offender — blasted authorities for charging the 14-year-old girl.


I do believe I'm speechless. I have a very pained looked on my face right now trying to comprehend.

[Salem]

I'm glad she got busted. I'm not sure how far I would like to see LE carry this, but this girl needs to learn a lesson. Yes, she just exploited herself, BUT she also put pictures out there that pedos can get and continue to distribute.

Kids don't think. They have to learn to think. They have to be held responsible for thier actions. These pictures are not going to stop at her MySpace page and that is a sad reality. They probably also put this girl in danger if others were looking at her MySpace.

Its sad the child felt the need to exhibit herself in such a way for some boy.

Salem

[6angels]

I agree she needs to learn a leasson... However I do not think she should be on the sex Offender list. Punish her and let her learn her leason.. Don't make it follow her the rest of her life

[txsvicki]

The girl is charged with child pornography for posting pics of herself and no other young teens? How strange especially since Myspace allows all sorts of weirdos to start pages. Maybe they should be charged along with the girl. Well, hopefully some older guy didn't talk her into posting the pics and maybe she won't get more punishment than some of the male perverts who rape children. Is the ACLU helping this girl with the case? I may be mistaking it for another story.

[SeekingJana]

I was upset about the " label", then I stopped to think that her arrest and possible sentence MAY HAVE saved her life, and may deter other girls from putitng their or other children's nude photos online- and from taking nude photos in the first place.
I don't know that I agree with the " sexual offender" status UNLESS this is the only way to stop the " sexting" that teens think they should be allowed to do without impunity.

I hope she gets lots of advocacy in the form of strict supervision and counseling, as well as someone who will care enough about her to make sure no one TAKES nude photos of her in the future. She needs to learn self- worth and to value her body as special and private.
Where are her parents in all of this, anyway?? Shouldn't her mother, who picked her up at the jail, share the bulk of the responsibilty legally? The parent or parents are probably the legal owners of the computer, the camera or cell phone used to take the photos, etc. :confused:

[Bobbisangel]

Never should this young girl have to register as a sex offender. That is carrying this way to far. She also shouldn't have to go to dentention for years or anything else. Someone should be trying to help her to discover why she had the need to put nude pictures on the internet. Something is lacking like selfworth. I wonder if that was her way of getting guys to recognize that she is alive. But then girls all over the place are doing the same thing...sending nude pics to boys, etc.

This girl might come from a fine family were are unaware of what she has been doing. I doubt that every parent keeps an eye on their child's MySpace.

There has to be other ways of handling things like this besides making kids of 14 years old register as sex offenders when she isn't a sex offender. She needs help not punishment by LE.

[Lovejac]

:eek: 14 years old! I was still playing with Barbie dolls at 14!

Isn't there an age limit for MySpace?

[Lovejac]

snipped from the link Kat provided:

The office investigated and discovered the Clifton resident had posted the "very explicit" photos of herself, sheriff's spokesman Bill Maer said Thursday.

"We consider this case a wake-up call to parents," Maer said. The girl posted the photos because "she wanted her boyfriend to see them," he said.

Are you kidding me? Her boyfriend and about a million strangers!! Hasn't she heard of e-mail?

[Snick1946]

A 13 year old schoolmate of my son's posted a pic of herself and a friend on MySpace, both wearing only underpants- taken outdoors at a park near here. My son brought this to my attention. She also had pics of herself posing provocatively with older boys, and was posting comments that would make a sailor blush.
I downloaded this stuff and mailed it without indicating who I was to her parents. It stopped all this stuff in a hurry. I am still flabbergasted that her parents weren't checking on this stuff.
I just don't think a 13 year old thinks like a mature person does. They don't realize that not only their 15 year old boyfriend will be titilated but also some 60 year old pedophile someplace else.
I don't know if this should have to follow the girl in the story for the rest of her life but, this is dangerous territory and kids need to get the message.

[lizzybeth]

The girl was stupid but I'm not sure she should have to register as a sex offender. I wonder what made her feel that she had to do something so drastic as to post nude pictures?

There is an age limit on myspace. It's eighteen but there's nothing to prevent a fourteen year old from posting that she's eighteen. As a matter of fact my myspace says I'm 97.

[southcitymom]

:eek: 14 years old! I was still playing with Barbie dolls at 14!

Isn't there an age limit for MySpace?

Bull.

[southcitymom]

A 13 year old schoolmate of my son's posted a pic of herself and a friend on MySpace, both wearing only underpants- taken outdoors at a park near here. My son brought this to my attention. She also had pics of herself posing provocatively with older boys, and was posting comments that would make a sailor blush.
I downloaded this stuff and mailed it without indicating who I was to her parents. It stopped all this stuff in a hurry. I am still flabbergasted that her parents weren't checking on this stuff.
I just don't think a 13 year old thinks like a mature person does. They don't realize that not only their 15 year old boyfriend will be titilated but also some 60 year old pedophile someplace else.
I don't know if this should have to follow the girl in the story for the rest of her life but, this is dangerous territory and kids need to get the message.

No doubt. I certainly don't think this girl should be charged as a sex offender. I also don't think her parents should be charged with anything. My parents would STILL be in jail if they were charged with all the stupid and/or illegal stuff I did as a teenager.

[gaia227]

Bull.

I was still playing with Barbies at 14 too.......very sneakily. I would lock the doors, pull down the shades, had them positioned so if anycame I could thrust them under the bed. I knew or thought I was too old but for some reason I just couldn't stop! By that time my Barbie playing was more like Barbie softcore porn. But then I had my first 'boyfriend', first kiss and the Barbies left my consciousness really fast.

The 14yr old girl - I definitely think it is ridiculous to call her a sex offender. The only person she hurt in this situation is herself.

Instead of criminalizing young girls for expressing their budding sexuality in harmful and potentially dangerous ways we should be more focused on teaching them how to respect their bodies, themselves, how to make good decisions and how to be responsible. Whether we like it or not girls and boys are becoming more sexually cognizant at younger ages and punishing them for it and telling them it is bad we are not changing anything -they are still going to continue to mature sexually, they are still going to be curious and adults have to learn how to deal with it in a more productive way than just punishing them for something that is a natural part of life. WE have to help guide them to make respectful decisions while understanding they are little balls (no pun intended) of hormones and we can't stop that.

[Boyz_Mum]

I don't want to see the girl jailed or on the SO list but am happy she got in some trouble. There are many, many more young women out there posting some pretty graphic photos. I don't know how LE would be able to keep up with this type activity, but if they can put a scare into some kids, maybe it could prevent a couple kids from taking a wrong turn or making the poor choice to post this type stuff?

[Lovejac]

Bull.


:croc::croc::slap::slap:

[southcitymom]

I was still playing with Barbies at 14 too.......very sneakily. I would lock the doors, pull down the shades, had them positioned so if anycame I could thrust them under the bed. I knew or thought I was too old but for some reason I just couldn't stop! By that time my Barbie playing was more like Barbie softcore porn. But then I had my first 'boyfriend', first kiss and the Barbies left my consciousness really fast.

The 14yr old girl - I definitely think it is ridiculous to call her a sex offender. The only person she hurt in this situation is herself.

Instead of criminalizing young girls for expressing their budding sexuality in harmful and potentially dangerous ways we should be more focused on teaching them how to respect their bodies, themselves, how to make good decisions and how to be responsible. Whether we like it or not girls and boys are becoming more sexually cognizant at younger ages and punishing them for it and telling them it is bad we are not changing anything -they are still going to continue to mature sexually, they are still going to be curious and adults have to learn how to deal with it in a more productive way than just punishing them for something that is a natural part of life. WE have to help guide them to make respectful decisions while understanding they are little balls (no pun intended) of hormones and we can't stop that.
:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

[southcitymom]

:croc::croc::slap::slap:

Ken, maybe! :dance::angel:;)

[Lovejac]

No doubt. I certainly don't think this girl should be charged as a sex offender. I also don't think her parents should be charged with anything. My parents would STILL be in jail if they were charged with all the stupid and/or illegal stuff I did as a teenager.


AMEN, sister!! :angel:

[Lovejac]

I think it's insane too, to make her register as a sex offender.

I fear that it makes people a little less wary when they see the title of "sex offender" because it is given to people like this.

I really wish that pedophiles would have their own title.

I personally know some people explain SO titles as, "Oh, that guy had a 15 yo girlfriend and the girls parents probably pressed charges, blah, blah, blah."

[lovelabs]

:eek: 14 years old! I was still playing with Barbie dolls at 14!

Isn't there an age limit for MySpace?


Yes, I believe its 18, but most kids lie about their age.

[Roselvr]

Yes, I believe its 18, but most kids lie about their age.

13 -
myspace terms (http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=misc.terms) -
1. Eligibility. Use of the MySpace Services and registration to be a Member for the MySpace Services (“Membership”) is void where prohibited. By using the MySpace Services, you represent and warrant that (a) all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; (c) you are 13 years of age or older; and (d) your use of the MySpace Services does not violate any applicable law or regulation. Your profile may be deleted and your Membership may be terminated without warning, if we believe that you are under 13 years of age, if we believe that you are under 18 years of age and you represent yourself as 18 or older, or if we believe you are over 18 and represent yourself as under 18.

[Lanie]

Here is just one of the many, many problems I have with this.

I, as a fully grown woman with children older than this girl, who d@mn sure should have better sense, could post nude pictures of myself on myspace and get in much less trouble, if any at all, than this 14-year-old CHILD.
What are we supposed to do? I tried my best to raise my children right. I monitered their television viewing, but what is a parent to do when commercials become x-rated? I did not allow my children to be on Myspace until they were close to 16, and then I signed up several times, doing all kinds of searches to see if I could find their Myspace and sign me up as a friend. I made sure they didn't put revealing info and pictures on their Myspace page.
IMO, this is total BS, and it is totally ruining the whole purpose of having sex offenders register. When I look up sex offenders, I want to know who molested/raped people, not who posted nudey pics of themselves as a child, or who slept with their underage girlfriend who was a year or two younger than themselves.
Yes, this girl needs some kind of intervention, but doesn't the Trenton, NJ PD have better things to do with their time than tie up their resources and court system on this stupidity?
Lanie

[shadowraiths]

Imnsho, Maer is an idiot. Pounding his chest about a wake-up call. Puh-leeze. I wish these people would actually think instead of mouthing off to their enthralled audience.

For example, if this child is convicted for child pornography production, she would be required to register as an SXO under most state laws. Yet, the sex offender registration will not in any way, shape, or form protect or help this child. In fact, it puts her at high risk for being victimized by the very people these idiots are claiming they want to protect her from. Why? Her name and address will be listed in the SXO registry along with a notation that she produced child pornography. Sh!t, let's just hand this kid over to hebephiles on a silver platter.

As for this issue? Who is to blame? Does anyone really believe that she is the only child on myspace posting nude pictures of themselves? Ain't technology wonderful? The dark side of technology, that is. If you don't know what I am getting at here, check out google's new stalker cam. Or simply consider this statement early in the article.

prosecutors nationwide pursue child pornography cases resulting from kids sending nude photos to one another over cell phones and e-mail.

As for this case, afaics, not only is myspace appallingly lax in their oversight, the overall tone of that place is a cross between highly sexualized and gratuitously violent content. Or otherwise put, it is no place for children. And yet, that is their target audience. Furthermore, where were her parents? Where was their oversight? And finally, there is the question of why she posted these pics in the first place. They claim she posted them bc her boyfriend wanted her to. So, how old is this boyfriend? Is he local? Is he really a teen?

Lots of questions and plenty to investigate as opposed to mouthing off and chest pounding.

[SuziQ]

Myspace has no follow up or security measures other than the disclaimers in print that lets them off the hook legally when a problem comes up. Myspace has only gone as far as protecting their behind, but do nothing to protect their members.

[Roselvr]

but doesn't the Trenton, NJ PD have better things to do with their time than tie up their resources and court system on this stupidity?

Of course they do but IMO they are trying to put other things in the spotlight so that the people of NJ stop focusing on the other things.

[Donjeta]

So if a girl takes nude photos of herself and doesn't post them anywhere, just keeps them on the computer, can she be arrested for possession of child pornography?

[Lovejac]

So if a girl takes nude photos of herself and doesn't post them anywhere, just keeps them on the computer, can she be arrested for possession of child pornography?


Great question, Donjeta! Wish I knew the answer.

[daisy7]

For parents:

If your child is on MySpace, please make sure their account is set to PRIVATE. And, set-up your own MySpace account, become MySpace friends with your child and check their MySpace page at least daily.

I went to a workshop presented by my local LE a few months ago on child porn, sexual predators and the internet and it was just frightening!!

[raindrops300]

On myspace, if the poster's age is set between 14 -18 the account is automatically private. However, kids get around that easily by just setting their age at 18. I think these kids just don't think about the fact that anybody and everybody can see it.

[daisy7]

On myspace, if the poster's age is set between 14 -18 the account is automatically private. However, kids get around that easily by just setting their age at 18. I think these kids just don't think about the fact that anybody and everybody can see it.

Respectfully, this is NOT correct! Check out the fake profile I just set up for a 14 year old boy:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=462845947

PLEASE (manually) set your child's page to private!! It's also a really good idea to have their MySpace password. If they don't want to give it to you, this should be a big red flag.

A person from my local LE who works on internet/child porn sets up fake accounts all the time and she says within 15 minutes she's contacted by someone. I'm curious to see who will try to contact this fake boy I put on MySpace.

Sorry if this is kind of O/T.

[Lovejac]

Respectfully, this is NOT correct! Check out the fake profile I just set up for a 14 year old boy:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=462845947

PLEASE (manually) set your child's page to private!! It's also a really good idea to have their MySpace password. If they don't want to give it to you, this should be a big red flag.

A person from my local LE who works on internet/child porn sets up fake accounts all the time and she says within 15 minutes she's contacted by someone. I'm curious to see who will try to contact this fake boy I put on MySpace.

Sorry if this is kind of O/T.

:eek:

[Nyla4]

Respectfully, this is NOT correct! Check out the fake profile I just set up for a 14 year old boy:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=462845947

PLEASE (manually) set your child's page to private!! It's also a really good idea to have their MySpace password. If they don't want to give it to you, this should be a big red flag.

A person from my local LE who works on internet/child porn sets up fake accounts all the time and she says within 15 minutes she's contacted by someone. I'm curious to see who will try to contact this fake boy I put on MySpace.

Sorry if this is kind of O/T.

That's scary!

[oceanblueeyes]

Never should this young girl have to register as a sex offender. That is carrying this way to far. She also shouldn't have to go to detention for years or anything else. Someone should be trying to help her to discover why she had the need to put nude pictures on the internet. Something is lacking like self worth. I wonder if that was her way of getting guys to recognize that she is alive. But then girls all over the place are doing the same thing...sending nude pics to boys, etc.

This girl might come from a fine family were are unaware of what she has been doing. I doubt that every parent keeps an eye on their child's MySpace.

There has to be other ways of handling things like this besides making kids of 14 years old register as sex offenders when she isn't a sex offender. She needs help not punishment by LE.

I agree Bobbi.

As in everything it seems when some of these well intended laws get in enacted it sweeps others in, that really shouldn't have to be there. While this is a sad way for this girl to express herself and it is sad that many teens have no self respect for themselves, being on a sex offender list is not the answer imo.

But things like this does have its repercussions and has a ripple affect. A while back several students at one of our local high schools were caught doing this, both girls and boys.

The tragedy in one of those cases was one of the people that knew one of the naked girls sent that photo to a boss of one of the girls' father. He had no clue his young daughter was doing such things. He had worked for that company faithfully for 18 years and was so humiliated, embarrassed, depressed and dismayed by what had occurred, he had to finally seek therapy and quit the company. He knew by the time it was shown to him it had already been seen by so many he knew and worked with.

This is never a type of photo that a parent wants to see of their young daughter or son and some of them are very sexually provocative and sexually explicit. Others can be of young teens passed out, laying on the floor naked and taken by their "so called" friends and then shotgunned out to everyone.



imoo

[daisy7]

:eek:

Yep, it's scary! As a Mom of 4 boys, I follow all this stuff closely.

Below is a quote from my local LE:

Wilkinson reported that 80 percent of teens ages 15 to 17 have had multiple hard-core exposures through the Internet. Ninety percent of 8- to 16-year-olds have viewed porn while doing homework.

http://www.gulfbreezenews.com/news/2009/0122/community/011.html

I did not attend this specific workshop, but have attended others conducted by Officer Wilkinson. And, I've had several conversations with Chris on this topic.

Again, sorry for the O/T. I just want other parents to be aware!:)

[Boyz_Mum]

Respectfully, this is NOT correct! Check out the fake profile I just set up for a 14 year old boy:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=462845947

PLEASE (manually) set your child's page to private!! It's also a really good idea to have their MySpace password. If they don't want to give it to you, this should be a big red flag.

A person from my local LE who works on internet/child porn sets up fake accounts all the time and she says within 15 minutes she's contacted by someone. I'm curious to see who will try to contact this fake boy I put on MySpace.

Sorry if this is kind of O/T.

I followed your link and the page is set to private. Was the page contacted by anyone scary? One of my boys sneaked on a social website and we caught it. One of the teen boys (friend of family) told me that his dad sets his page to private and he just resets it. We definately have to watch the internet activity around here.

Sorry for the kind of O/T questions!

[raindrops300]

[quote=daisy7;3516334]Respectfully, this is NOT correct! Check out the fake profile I just set up for a 14 year old boy:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=462845947
snipped for length

This shows up as private to me. Did you set it up as private?

[Bobbisangel]

Another thing to think about...kids don't realize that the things that they do when they are young can reach out and bite them in the butt when they are older. Nude pictures on the internet can catch up with you at any time in your life and stop you short of getting the job that you want and all kinds of things that may have become your goal in life as you grew up. It has happened before and will again. There are always consequences for the things that we do whether good or bad.

I realize that kids don't see things in the long term but maybe they should begin to. I know a young man who had planned on going in the Marines when he got old enough. He got into doing a little partying and when he was 18 he got caught at a party and ended up with a felony. The Marines won't touch him with a ten foot pole. Just an example of how the past can bite you in the rear. The Marines had been this kids goal since he was about 9 years old. Not a chance it will ever happen.