NC Teen Arrested For Taking Nude Selfies, Charged With Child Pornography

The student was 16 when the photos were taken, the legal age of consent in the state.
From: NewNowNext

 The combination of rapidly developing technology and our sex-shaming culture has claimed its latest victim: A teenager in Fayetteville, North Carolina, was arrested for having nude pictures on his cellphone.

Picture of himself.

The 17-year-old, whom we’re not naming, was 16 when he took the photos. They were discovered during an unrelated search of his phone, and led to the boy being charged with possessing child pornography—an offense that carries a ten-year prison term and registration as a sex offender.

He was able to reach a plea deal with the DA’s office—agreeing to random police searches without warrant for one year, community service and other penalties.

Oddly, the age of consent in North Carolina is 16—he was charged as an adult, but treated as a minor in regards to his sexually explicit photos.

His girlfriend, who also took a nude photo of the teen, made a similar deal with authorities.

“It’s crazy. It’s an overreach.” computer security and privacy expert Fred Lane told the Guardian. “This goes back to the Supreme Court making child pornography unconstitutional in 1983… But that was before anyone thought kids would be making and sending nude photos of themselves with publicly available digital technology.”

While laws governing images of minors apply on the federal level, 20 states have “Romeo and Juliet laws” that protect teens from prosecution when they exchange naked pictures and there is no sign of exploitation.