Thirty Michigan Students Might Face Felony Charges For ‘Sexting’

Michigan has become prominent in the news for online sex exploits, especially when it comes to students. The Inquisitr reported numerous times on Michigan students utilizing the internet, social media, and online communications just to pass around sexually-explicit pictures of themselves and others. This includes two teenagers facing child pornography charges for posting their sexual acts on social media, which is all in the wake of the state’s school districts themselves cracking down on sexting.

Now there are reports coming out of Michigan that 30 students may face felony charges. Their crime: sexting.

According to the Detroit Free Press and followed up by Mad World News, more than 30 Rochester Community Schools students will find out within two weeks if they face felony charges for sending inappropriate pictures of themselves or other minors. In fact, this is just one of two sexting cases to hit the news within recent months, the first of which includes about six to 10 students in Romeo. The Oakland County Sheriff’s Department first investigated the case involving the Rochester students in September.

Captain Mike Johnson made a statement on this matter.

“Our computer crimes unit is doing… a forensic examination.”

This may be a sensitive issue for the unit, since the evidence for this case includes inappropriate texts of a sexual nature between high school students, some quite possibly with pictures. Nevertheless, the case involves 30 students from Rochester Adams High School and one student at nearby Van Hoosen Middle School.

Shannon Smith, a Bloomfield Hills attorney who specializes in sex crime cases, is representing one of the students from Rochester Adams High School and the single lone student from Van Hoosen Middle School. She made a statement that the case unfolded because some of the boys were collecting photos. She also included details on why the situation has gotten out of hand.

“They were asking girls to text them nude photos. The girls were cooperating and then the boys were trading the pictures – giving them to other people. There were a lot of girls that were sending photos and it just got out of control.”

If the students are found guilty, they may face charges related to the creation, solicitation, distribution, or possession of sexual explicit materials. If charged as adults, the students may also face prison sentences that range from four to 20 years.

What are your views about the situation surrounding the 30 students sexting each other? If found guilty, should they be tried as minors or adults and why? Please let everyone know in the comments below.

[Image via Bing]