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14-Year-Old Boy Placed On Police Register After Sending Naked Picture To Classmate

Ewan Palmer reports: A teenage boy in the UK has had a crime of making and distributing indecent images recorded against him after he sent a naked picture of himself to one of his female classmates. The 14-year-old was not formally arrested after he sent the explicit image to a girl of the same age via Snapchat. The police file against the boy will now remain active for 10 years, meaning any future employer conducting an advanced Criminal Records Bureau check will be aware of the incident. However, it is not clear whether a police file was recorded for the girl who saved and shared the image. Under new legislation, if she had been over 18, the girl could have been convicted under the so called 'revenge porn' law in the UK.

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  1. Not a Sex Offender's Register by mentil · · Score: 5, Informative

    I RTFA (I know)
    He wasn't placed on a sex offender's register (last I heard, the UK declined to implement one), rather a registry of people who have had legal complaints filed with the police agency. Someone (probably a tip from whatever social network the picture was shared on) notified the police about it, and a public record was automatically made about that notification. The police didn't press charges, as they claim to be lenient about teen sexting; an actual modification to the law would be a better option than selective enforcement, however. A bigger problem is that a publicly-searchable registry exists of people who have been accused of a crime, even if the police thought there wasn't enough of a case/cause to arrest or prosecute them. Most people never get called on their 3 felonies per day, so it can be used to single out people no more guilty than typical.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  2. Still better than the US by watermark · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is still better than the US. He would have had to register as a sex offender, which is a life-long sentence. He would not allowed to live near a school or attend a school, and would have to notify his neighbors that he is a registered sex offender...for the rest of his life.

  3. Re:Won't someone think of hurting the children?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Working at a maximum security jail that housed young offenders, i can tell you that the youth of today mature much faster maybe due to faster access to information and all that hormone drug ridden food they eat. some of these 14 year olds had the bodies of men ! They were also facing serious charges like murder, assault, rape. Decisions they made were not the same as regular 14 year olds. One kid was in for his 2nd charge of murder. The first time he killed his sister. 2nd time he shot his grandfather. another kid was there because he raped a fellow cellmate...it was his third time. And these "kids" will have their records cleaned after they get out as "young offenders". The only thing that stops them is when they end up in the adult system. Age shouldnt be any reason to excuse criminal actions. Read about the murder of James Bulger and you will think differently about "kids". His murderers were only 10 years old.

  4. Re: Won't someone think of hurting the children?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Please don't take offense, but your post is exactly what's wrong with the world today. Discipline is a far cry from being a nazi. I agree with the op. When I was 14 my parents expected me to be a responsible young adult. When I got arrested for vandalism, my parents told the police to keep me. They only came to get me because the police told them they had to. And you know what? I knew they were right. Teaching your kids about the consequences of their actions, and that some actions have big time, life-fucking, no second chance consequences is NOT nazi-ish, it's called being a good parent. Something that seems to have not survived the change of millennia. Idiocracy is looking more and more like a documentary every day.