The Iowa Supreme Court has sent a strong message about "sexting."
Sexting is the practice of sending nude or semi-nude photos through cell phone text messages. Pat Trueman, special counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, says the most recent ruling stemmed from a 2005 case involving 18-year-old Jorge Canal. "This was a serious offense. He was producing obscenity and distributing obscenity, and to a minor at that," he notes. The girl receiving the pictures was 14 years old. Canal's attorney appealed a jury verdict to the Iowa Supreme Court, and the court agreed that the pictures involved obscenity and upheld the decision. Canal received probation. "But he also has to register as a sex offender -- and [he] may be on that sex offender registry for a lifetime," Trueman adds. "So if anyone had any doubts, sexting is a very serious crime -- and kids better get to know that." The court concluded that even though the girl asked for the pictures, Canal still had a legal obligation not to send them.
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