Sexting could lead to criminal charges: cyber safety expert

Peter Dinham
Sunday, 14 June 2009 11:48

Business IT - Security

Teenagers need to be much more aware of the legal and potential criminal implications of sexting – sending inappropriate images – of themselves over the Internet to friends, or even placing their photos on social networking sites like Facebook, according to a cyber safety expert.

Susan McLean, cyber safety speaker for parenting education organisation Generation Next, and a former Victoria Police officer specialising in online crime, has also called for the creation of a special law in Victoria to apply to teenagers who don’t realise the criminal implications of “sexting”.

According to McLean, the law needs to catch up with the rise in popularity of young people sending images over the Net but, she says, “I’m not condoning a child sending an inappropriate image of herself to a friend or putting it on some webspace, but the law also needs to take into account intent and the personal toll on the life of the sender.

“Some kids will be put through the cautioning program, which is designed to act as a warning, but others will be processed through the Children’s Court where a conviction could have a catastrophic result for the young person, especially the listing on the National Sex Offenders Register.

“While there may be girls coerced or forced into doing this, there’s also an increasing number of teenagers spontaneously sexting photos of themselves without a thought of the consequences.”

McLean further stressed that, at the moment, in the eyes of the law that child is on the same penalty footing as a paedophile, and, she added, “once an image is online, it’s potentially there forever and could just be the trigger for those with a predilection for paedophilia to move from viewing an image to luring a child for sex.”

McLean said there was a need to be tough on sex offenders and deter kids from inadvertently fuelling their actions but “we also need a measured approach that doesn’t create a new class of criminals.”

The former policewoman called for a national curriculum in schools, together with appropriate professional development to adequately bring teachers up-to-speed on technology-based crimes like sexting and cyber bullying.

“It’s no use expecting teachers to know how to deal with these issues if their students have more knowledge than they do.”