wow, lets just get everybody on the sex offender list. Very productive.

Yeah, before long being a 'sex offender' will be mainstream. Soccer moms will be bragging about it to each other while their kids play out on the field.

It's a very bad idea to trivialize the sex offender title. Is this behavior wrong? Yes, but to put them in the same category as other people on the list is stupid.

Or perhaps it's time for the legislature to do their job and properly design laws to avoid this kind of stupidity. These laws were intended to protect children from adult predators, and instead they are ruining the lives of children who are exploring their own sexuality in a modern form.

This is a clear failure on the part of police and local authorities to stand up for what's right, and handle this discreetly and professionally. Furthermore, puberty exists for a reason, it signals the readiness for sexual development, whether "society" agrees with it or not is not relevant.

If your 18, you can shack up with an 85 year old man and that's fine, but if your 16 you can't shack up with your 17 year old boyfriend? This is what happens when politicians let uneducated fear mongering parents guide laws. Stop demonizing sex, and if you feel the court absolutely MUST stick it's nose into our bedrooms then at least do it with enough foresight to avoid this kind of stupidity.

This is not the first time this has happened, and I have still seen no lawmaker stand on the side of reality and responsibility and try to get more intelligent and better designed laws on the books to prevent these kids from being labeled perverts for 40 years just because they happened to be born in the camera-phone age.

Lets try leaving it up to parents to raise their kids for once.

why did i almost get an AV2009 malware install going to this page???
wth THG!!
+1 to martin

I see this all the time. People break up, so one person decides to post all of their naked pictures on 4chan.

And I have to agree that the laws haven't caught up with the technology. But the fact of the matter is, an 18 year old can be sent to prison for having sex with a 17 year old, simply because on is legally a minor and the other isn't. There are some states with smarter laws about those types of relationships, but there are others that don't. The fact of the matter is, it's not just the fact that the laws aren't up to date with technology, many of the laws aren't up to date with society.

+1 to martin

Throughout most of the US, the legal age of consent is 16, it's 7 in seven states, and 18 in twelve.

Most states have basic ranges within which sexual activity is allowed.

Please know the laws in your state before complaining about them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_ [...] ted_States

@ neodawg

I told them in this post, http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/53260-1-virus. No one has acted like they give a hoot, no response sorry nothing. The company that is handing us off to their toms guide articles "middle man" has infected servers.

Any way back to the thing that matters "I say this in accordance to the no replys to the my post about me getting almost infected".


This is our tax money hard at work at destroying our kids futures assuring we can never live off of them when we get old and gray because who really wants to hire a sex offender after all? It makes my stomach turn it really does and the sad thing is, is that there are other laws out there and biost that are just as bad as this one. This is only scratching the surface of the issues with the law system today..

Sorry, that should be 17 in seven states, not 7.

@neodawg, truehighroller: If you download the no script add-on for firefox, you'll never have to worry about that junk again.

Does anyone else note the irony of having the OLPC slideshows as the 'related slide shows to this news'?

I think there should be degrees for sex offenses. For example, some drunk guy moons someone as a joke and gets caught; he could be charged with a sex offense. Should he be put on the same list as some guy that raped a 12 year old?
I think these kids should get charged with a sex offense, but to a lesser degree than "real" sex offenders and therefore put on a separate list.
On the other hand, I do like the fact that the situation is being taken seriously and the kids are being punished. If my daughter knows there are serious consequences and that keeps her from doing that crap, great! And yes, I am a parent and I take responsibility for my daughter's actions. I have taught her right from wrong, however, I don't think anyone here can say they didn't do something stupid when they were young adults. You can teach your kids right from wrong, but when it comes down to it, you can only hope and pray they take what they have learned and apply it to their lives.

I understand the law and everything, but why should it be illegal for the girl to take nude picture of herself. If a kid wants to take a nude picture of themself and send it to someone it shouldn't be illegal, although it is morally wrong. I can see why it would be illegal for someone to get that picture and send it to others, but it shouldn't be illegal for someone to take a picture of themself and send it out. I mean, why can a teenager get an abortion, but god forbid they should take a pictur of themself in the nude. The whole countries going to fall apart now. And BTW, at what age does it start being child pornography? I know my mom has a few baby pictures of me in the buff, and I've seen movies (Hollywood movies, not what you're thinking) that show kids nude. I don't consider any of this pornography. Who dictates when something is an embarrassing family photo or child pornography? I really think they need to focus on the true criminal aspect behind child pornography rather than stupid kids doing stupid shit.

LOL @ the OLPC pics in the "related pictures" section below the article. Before too long, we will need to start arresting entire third world countries as "national geographic" style pictures of indigenous kids in indigenous garb start creeping around the interwebs.

Another disgusting case of egotistical prosecutors running amok in this country. To hell with justice, prosecute at any cost and if you dare try to become a "martyr" by executing you constitutional right to a trial I will use every legal trick to charge you with the maximum offense. Even if you win you will have spend at least $100K on trial and you wont be able to afford college. Ha Ha !!!

We can add this case to the already long list:
1) Gnarlo Wilson - At star student, sentenced to 10 yrs for having oral with a girl less than 2 yrs his age. If he had straight sex then it would only have been a misdemenor.
2) Duke LaCross team - The parents spend over $1 million each to clear their sons of rape charges fabricated by a powere hungry prosecutor.
3) A preschool kid charges with 10 yrs and registering as a sex offender for a spank on a female class-mate who apparantly had also repeatedly tussled with the boy.

While I fully support fighting child porn I don't think the law objects to it in the same manner that I do. I'm against the child abuse aspect of it paying or forcing kids to do such acts in front of a camera for example. But when a 15 year old girl takes a nude picture of herself I hardly see why she would be punished. She certainly needs a talking to but felony charges is going way to far.

One thing wrong with the law system is that they don't quite make sense and we need clear and federal laws and get rid of the states laws when it comes to sexual issues. For example some states the legal age of consent is 14 and some as high as 18. Its also a strange that in some places one could sleep with a 14 year old but your doomed if you take a picture of her. We really need to make it a one law fits all.

Most of you are missing the point here.
the only time problems arise is when pics are shared with somebody else. So either - Dont take any pictures, or if you do.. DONT share them.
I beleive the national laws have clear guidelines about the age of people when they are photographed in the nude, and in this case those laws are being broken -- so people get to pay the penalty.

or better yet, dont get in said situations to begin with (but thats a whole different debate).

Instant Idiots... take otherwise intelligent people and get them jobs in the Judicial system.

Consider yourself lucky xD In Ireland if a 16 year old boy and a sixteen year old girl have CONSENSUAL sex and say the girls mother or something finds out and tells the police he will get a mandatory sentence of 7 years. That means that no matter what happened, even if the girl told him she was 18, showed him a fake id saying she was 18, was going out with him for years he would actually be forbidden from putting up a defense. Our supreme court found this unconstitutional a couple of years ago but the media seized hold of it and claimed that hundreds of pedo's would get out of prison because of it and so its still in place.

Damn skalagon thats horrible. That sounds awfully sexist as well to only blame the male of the sexual act when two constitutional same aged people did it. Also forbidden to defend himself in court?! Does this mean if a underage girl accuses a innocent man of rape the man will be defenseless in court and certainly go to prison?

two consensual I meant not constitutional. No idea how I wrote that and didn't notice.

The Last resort:

I was on this site too on Sunday and a window popped open and said I had viruses on my computer and should click on the window that popped open to fix this problem. I was using Firefox too. I almost clicked on it since for a split second I saw my Norton icon come on in the lower part of my screen but had the browser window covering it, and I couldn't read what it said. So for a min. I thought it was a real warning. I then remembered that such a thing could be a trap so I used the task manager to close Firefox. I am glad you guys mentioned this I thought I was the only one to get this.

Kittle you're joking right? Are you actually suggesting that children that are not legally able to do much of anything (sign legally binding contracts, drive, drink, smoke, etc...) are in some way legally competent to be held responsible for this absurd 'crime'.

We're talking about kids... TEEN kids... they're not 'sexual predators' for doing what comes natural with other children or their own age. They're also not 'sexual predators' for using technology they've grown up with as an extension of their sexuality. It's TOTALLY ASSENINE to ruin the lives of young men and women of this... prudish busybody attitude our silly Government has about underage sex.

Add me to the list, I sent and received images like this when I of under and around the age of 18. I don't really see the big deal people are making over this phenomenon; kids, and adults are bound to take advantage and find ways to do things like this. It'll only get worse as technology advances.

the problem is not the kids; the problem is when the kids break-up, and one of them posts the pictures on the internet, the person who downloads them could quite possibly be a sex offender. So, in teaching kids not to share explicit material, they are also keeping some out of the hands of real offenders.

I don't think that any nude or semi-nude photo of a minor, should be a means to label you as a sex offender.. How many nude photos of children are out there in the ART world... These photos are considered art, and not porn... As all they do is show the body.. Not a sexual act... I'm not out to hit up on some underage child, but if a TEEN takes a pic of them self, then decide to show it.. so be it.. They shouldn't be charged with a sex crime. This is ridiculous..

What is seen as morally wrong is not exactly illegal (that requires years of jail time and/or being branded forever). The mentality seems to be that those that support such policy would rather shout "I TOLD YOU SO!" at the face of the "offenders" and have them suffer so much more. True, regardless of such policy, the "offenders" will still be able to move on (hopefully having learned their lessons), but having a "brand" on their forehead doesn't help at all.

Looking at a different situation, if a child is constantly being told he/she is stupid, most likely he/she won't be able to improve himself/herself, and may even totally giveup.

If the people behind this policy doesn't want to be bothered in the upbringing of their own child, or would rather shame their own child, then they shouldn't be allowed to have a child of their own. Not only would they be surgically/chemically neutered, but be listed in a no-adoption list.