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Teenage "Sexting" Under Investigation

The parents of middle-schoolers in Chesterfield County might be surprised to learn that "sexting" is not an unusual practice among the 11 to 14 age group.

But Chesterfield authorities say they are reluctant to prosecute young people for sending nude photos via text message when there is no criminal intent.

"I agree that it's definitely dangerous for these girls to be doing this, and they have no control with what happens with the pictures after they send them," said Chesterfield Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney David Rigler. "But we don't want to make criminals out of these girls for doing something that's really just kind of stupid."

The sexting phenomenon surfaced locally this week with news that Henrico County police had broadened an investigation that initially centered on images being sent among students at Moody Middle School.

"We know it goes on a lot," said Rigler, who prosecutes juvenile-related crime in Chesterfield. "It only becomes an issue when something happens [with the images]."

Nearly all the cases that have come to the attention of Chesterfield authorities -- less than 10, according to Rigler -- have involved teenage girls taking photos of themselves partially naked and sending them to boyfriends or other acquaintances. None has been charged.

Rigler said each of the cases had what he called a school component, where the sexting came to light through a student or the parent of a student.

In Henrico, school officials at Moody discovered naked photos of students several weeks ago on three jump drives -- portable memory devices that can be used with cell phones or laptops. Since then, similar types of images have been found on cell phones and school-issued laptops at other county schools, police said.

In Richmond, police have not yet received reports of sexting by city public school students, a spokeswoman said.

Hanover County authorities could not immediately provide information about whether they have investigated any sexting cases.

Hanover Capt. Michael Trice said the sheriff's department's school-resource officers have warned teens in school assemblies that they could be charged with a felony if any sexting images they send are deemed pornographic. "That's been our stand with the students," he said.

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