MARYLAND HIGH COURT DECLARES TEEN WHO TEXTED SEX VIDEO OF HERSELF AS CHILD PORNOGRAPHER
Sometimes the law just seems to be an impossible thing to understand. Sure, the law is a fluid thing and often needs adjustment. Maybe the law is out of date. Or maybe it’s just stupid. Justice is blind, but that doesn’t mean it can’t ever see context. But that certainly seems to be the case for one Maryland teen. The 16-year-old girl texted a video of herself having sex to her best friends. Now Maryland’s highest court has decided that according to law, this teenager is now officially a child pornographer. This is an awkward scenario, at best. To be a child pornographer, you have to have an underaged victim.
Read More: Here’s a Look at Child Labor in Hellish E-Waste Sites in India
STATES’ LAWS NEED TO BE CHANGED TO PROTECT KIDS THESE DAYS, IN THE AGE OF TEXTING AND SEXTING
But that’s the rub right there. State law has not yet been able to mark the difference between an actual child pornographer and a teen sending imagery or video to friends of themselves. But since the law hasn’t been updated for the techie kids these days, it sees these kids as both victim and perpetrator. In layman’s terms, this teen engaged in sexting. But the content was of herself. If you’re older, this seems rather crazy to do. But kids these days see these things as pretty much normal.
Related:
https://www.theblot.com/facebook-took-15-days-to-remove-post-selling-child-bride/
HOW CAN CHILDREN BE THE PERPETRATORS OF THEIR OWN VICTIMHOOD WHEN IT COMES TO PORN?
But this poor girl isn’t the first notable example of this phenomenon. Minnesota charged a 14-year-old girl with felony distribution of child pornography. Why? She sent a salacious Snapchat selfie to a boy she had a crush on. But that boy then sent it to others without her permission. Yet again, the current law can’t distinguish the property of minors in the texting era to an actual child pornographer who preys on children for disgusting, illicit gain. A Minnesota judge later dismissed the charge ad “absurd” and “unjust.” So what now? Maryland failed to pass a bill earlier this year that would have addressed this issue.
Now, the state’s Court of Appeals can do nothing but exhort local lawmakers to fix the law. Because this issue isn’t going away.
