The month of June is sexting awareness month and SOS is working to provide prevention education to local residents.
Danielle Armitage of SOS was a recent guest of KVOE’s newsmaker segment and tells KVOE sexting has continued to be a prominent concern amongst younger children. Armitage believes the reason why sexting has become a common occurrence is the fact it is perceived as a normalized cell phone or internet behavior.
The act of sexting entails sending nude or promiscuous photos from one individual to another. Armitage explains there are several ramifications which can come from the act of sexting. This includes several legal consequences.
The Lyon County Attorney’s Office says there are several variables involved in determining punishment for cases involving acts such as sexting. This includes the ages of all the individuals involved in the case. For example, if the victim is under the age of 14 while the recipient is over the age of 18 the case can be classified as on off-grid crime and considered a Jessica’s Law Case. This is only for certain offenses involving images or communications of a sexually explicit nature. This could result in the handing down of a maximum sentence of 25-years to life in prison.
There are other offenses involving sexually explicit communications which are not considered Jessica’s Law offenses based upon the ages of those involved. The range of penalties according to the County Attorney’s office are less for perpetrators under the age of 18.
Armitage says consequences can also involve emotional ramifications. She explains when sexually explicit images are dispersed throughout large groups of people it can lead to humiliation, physical, emotional and cyber bullying of the individual who sent them.
SOS has been providing prevention education throughout Lyon, Coffey, Chase, Morris, Greenwood and Osage Counties. This includes presentations in local high schools and even sexting and internet safety education for elementary aged children.
For more information on sexting prevention and sexting, awareness month visit soskansas.com/the-truth-about-sexting.
