A 14-year-old girl who sent an explicit photograph of herself to a boy she liked has been charged by authorities in Minnesota with distributing child pornography, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The teenager known only as “Jane Doe” sent the picture via the Snapchat messaging site. The boy then showed it and shared it with his friends without her permission, the civil rights group said in a statement. They have also been charged under Minnesota’s pornography law.
If convicted, the girl could face up to 10 years on the sex offenders’ register, the ACLU said
“I’m not a criminal for taking a selfie, Sexting is common among teens at my school, and we shouldn’t face charges for doing it. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I’m going through.”Jane Doe said
The statute under which the girl has been charged states that the intention is to “protect minors from the physical and psychological damage caused by their being used in pornographic work depicting sexual conduct which involves minors.”
However, the teenager’s father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, accused the state of “victimising the victim.”
“To suggest that a juvenile who sends a sexually explicit selfie is a victim of her own act of child pornography is illogical,” Teresa Nelson, Legal Director of the ACLU-Minnesota, said
“Child pornography laws are supposed to protect minors from predators, and Jane Doe is not a predator.”She added.
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