(412) 596-8124

After several cases where district attorneys have pursued felony charges against teens accused of sending sexually explicit photos of themselves, the Pennsylvania General Assembly House of Representatives is proposing a bill that would make “sexting” by teens a second-degree misdemeanor.   The statute would amend the criminal code by adding 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6321.

The new statute would prohibit any minor over the age of 13 from sending any nude photos of him or herself electronically.  The statute adopts the definition of nudity set out it 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 5903.  In that section, nudity is defined as showing the “human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a fully opaque covering, or the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple, or the depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.”

For more information, go to:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10025/1030881-454.stm

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2009&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=2189&pn=3051