Four High School Students Implicated In Sexting Ring
Four students at Yucaipa’s 9th Grade Campus face charges of exploiting a minor after police uncovered “inappropriate” photos of eight female students online.
Police received their first reports of the photos on Monday. They tell News Channel 3 nude photographs were being sent by the victims voluntarily to their friends. The photos were then circulated among a group of other students. One student accumulated these photos and then posted them on at least one social networking site for anyone to see.
The pratice of “sexting,” or sending nude or provocative photos through text messages on cell phones, is running rampant through high schools and middle schools throughout the nation.
Statistics provided by Yucaipa police show that one in five teens have sent nude or semi-nude photos of themselves to another person. Twenty-two percent of teen girls, eighteen percent of teen boys, and eleven percent of tweens have sent a nude or semi-nude photo electronically. Fifteen percent of teen males disseminate these photos of their girlfriends to others after they break up.
“What teens fail to realize is there are severe consequences with this type of behavior,” Yucapia police detective Larry Lopez said. “In most cases, these crimes are felonies.
“Not only could the teen or young adult responsible for sending, possessing, and/or posting and forwarding this type of material face having a criminal record but there are emotional problems associated, as well. Humiliation, embarrassment, social stigma, anxiety, depression, and other psycho social effects are just a few problems teens face,” he said.
