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15-year-old Nampa girl arrested in “sexting” case

BY PATRICK ORR - porr@idahostatesman.com

Published: 06/04/09


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Nampa police arrested a high school student Thursday, saying she posed as secret admirer to trick another girl to send a nude picture.

She was charged with a misdemeanor count of disseminating material harmful to minors.

Though the Canyon County Prosecutor’s office has investigated similar cases this year, this was the first time officials filed a criminal charge, said Bryan Taylor, chief of the office’s special victims unit.

“We based our decision on that the fact that this was very harmful to this child ... we believe (the suspect) showed significant malice,” Taylor said.

The girl, a high school student, is being held in the Southwest Juvenile Detention Center.

Investigators say that after she tricked a fellow high school student into sending her a nude photo, she forwarded to several other students.

Prosecutors in both Ada and Canyon counties have investigated “sexting” cases this year— where kids are caught disseminating nude photos, mostly over cell phones — but most of those case are handled through diversion programs.

Canyon County prosecutors and law enforcement have created a special task force to investigate the “sexting” trend and plan to have a presence in schools next fall to educate students on how harmful the trend can be.

Most “sexting” cases involve photos being sent via cell phones, but can also include regular email. The 15-year-old girl charged this week will make her initial court appearance Friday, where a judge will decide if she can return home or will have to stay in the juvenile facility. Because she is a juvenile, all court cases are sealed from the public.

The maximum possible penalty for the charge is 90 days in a juvenile facility.

Patrick Orr: 373-6619

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