Teen 'sexting' not seen as trend in Yuma

  The provocative practice of teenagers sending nude photographs of themselves via text messages - or "sexting" - is a growing phenomenon elsewhere in the country but has not surfaced locally, according to law enforcement officials.

  Sexting can be considered child pornography. But there have been no reported cases in Yuma, said Clint Norred, Yuma Police Department spokesman.

 "I've kept track of several news articles I've read over the last year," Norred said. "I guess we've just been fortunate here.

  "But the technology is in place. You want to think you're immune but it's probably just a matter of time before we'll have to deal with it in some fashion here."

  The Yuma County Sheriff's Office also reports no occurrences of sexting by Yuma teens or any involved with posting inappropriate images online, according to Capt. Eben Bratcher, YCSO spokesman.

  Recently, six teenagers in Greensburg, Pa., were charged with child pornography for sexting, according to published reports. In the small town 30 miles east of Pittsburgh, one girl age 14 and two age 15 allegedly took nude photographs of themselves and sent them to their boyfriends who are 15, 16, and 17, according to www.thepittsburghchannel.com.

  The Web page noted photos were discovered last October when one of the girls was found to have her cell phone activated while class was in session, which violated school policy. Her phone was confiscated by an administrator who found the nude photo and turned it over to police.

  Such a photo can be very dangerous because it can be posted on the Internet, Capt. George Seranko of the Greensburg Police Department was reported to have said. During further investigation, other phones were seized with additional nude photos.

  The Greensburg Salem School District issued a statement that there was no evidence of inappropriate activity on school grounds but they would continue to enforce their policy against using electronic devices and cooperate with police.

  It is a disturbing incident, yet there has been no evidence of this occurring in Yuma County, said Leo Mendez, deputy director of the Juvenile Justice Center. There has been considerable gang-related issues such as graffiti, drive-by shootings, and threats to rival gangs but nothing about child pornography, he said.

  But some teens are on probation as sexual offenders, Mendez noted. Currently there are 12 juvenile sexual offenders in community and seven in residential placement. Another 147 who have no sexual offenses are on intensive probation, which requires them to establish face-to-face contact with an assigned probation officer, he explained.

  The sexual offenders in the community are under a highly structured supervised probation program, said Mendez. Juveniles in residence are placed in a secure environment that deals specifically with their charged offense and requires they go through the program for a minimum of nine months, complete the program, or until they turn 18, he said.

  There is also another population of juveniles who have committed serious crimes such as rape or incest who could be charged as adults and kept in an adult institution, Mendez added.

   Juvenile sexual cases are often sibling-to-sibling, sibling-to-relative or other person close to the family types of violations. A number of pedophiles have had issues when they were in their teens themselves. But during the previous year the rate of juvenile sexual offenses has held steady, he pointed out.

  "I can say we do treat these as very sensitive cases because there could be numerous victims," Mendez said. "We give these cases the highest priority but currently it is not happening with any frequency."

---
William Roller can be reached at
wroller@yumasun.com or 539-6858.