Teen may face sex charges over yearbook photo

[TechMan]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20073085-504083.html

Teenage boy (17) feels up (hand up her dress) girlfriend (15) at dance.
Photograph of said feel up winds up in yearbooks.
Yearbooks recalled to remove said page with photo, because authorities deem that the picture is child pornography.
If students didn't turn in their yearbook, they could have been charged with possession of child pornography.
Teenage boy may now face child abuse charges, if DA decides to file charges.


Okay so who hasn't tried this (feeling up his/her date) when they were a hormone-fueled teenager.

[Ned Hamford]

Looks like the hand was down the bottom... would have just been local lore and legend, but the local newspaper ran with it it.

"Sgt. Jeremiah MacKay of the Big Bear sheriff's station said Tuesday that although his investigation was not complete, it showed that sexual penetration of a minor had occurred"
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20073085-504083.html#ixzz1Q2FrRdQ2

I think this was well covered in a comment:

[Contemplating the arrest of the teenage male]
"As much as we know teenagers are and will be teenagers, by law we cannot ignore it," MacKay said.
Yes, you can.
Morons."

I am a fan of sane law enforcement resource allocation.  If the folks involved aren't complaining and aren't hurt, use the resources for areas where people are [murders, rapes, gangs... or, much neglected and I hate it, fraud under 40k].

Whenever I hear about arrests for cartoon pornography and other absurdities [like teen on teen sexuality with less than 2 years difference], I have to wonder about how slow things are in that law enforcement office.. but then, you know, its not, its just that those sorts are crimes are a lot easier and safer to enforce. 

[dogmush]

Sgt. Jeremiah MacKay of the Big Bear sheriff's station said Tuesday that although his investigation was not complete, it showed that sexual penetration of a minor had occurred, the L.A. Times reported.

Unless we are doing some sort of Clinton-esque redefinition of the term "Sexual Penetration", I am VERY skeptical a picture showing what *I* think of as "Sexual Penetration" made it into a yearbook.

[MechAg94]

What is the law in California?  Is sexual interaction between minors an offense on child abuse/rape laws? 

I thought Texas had a rule about less than 3 years difference, but I don't know.

[vaskidmark]

Unless we are doing some sort of Clinton-esque redefinition of the term "Sexual Penetration", I am VERY skeptical a picture showing what *I* think of as "Sexual Penetration" made it into a yearbook.

It's no redefinition.  You put something attached as OEM to a human there it's penetration.  You put something there that's not attached as OEM to a human but OEM to some other living species it's a nastier kind of penetration.  If it's not alive it's inanimate penetration.  Laws agin' doing that have, in one form or another, been on the books since before Hamurabi created the first legal codex.

But as for criminalizing what would, except for the age of one of the participants, be consensual contact when the age differences are roughly (I'm still thinking  this over) less than 4 years and the younger of the otherwise agreeable parties is at least 14, is IMNSHO a plain waste of time and resources - including the resource that the two otherwise agreeable parties might turn out to be.  And as for putting this guy on a sex offender registry for the rest of his life?  Momma said the words I want to use should not be used in polite company.

Moving along a bit - are there no longer dark corners at these events?  Back in my day (yes, it was in fact before the flood, thank you for reminding me) dark corners were standard but usually there was a time limit on how long you could be there.

stay safe.

[dogmush]

It's no redefinition.  You put something attached as OEM to a human there it's penetration.  You put something there that's not attached as OEM to a human but OEM to some other living species it's a nastier kind of penetration.  If it's not alive it's inanimate penetration.  Laws agin' doing that have, in one form or another, been on the books since before Hamurabi created the first legal codex.

Let me rephrase.

A hand above the hem of a skirt is not, to my eyes, penetration of anything but a hemline.  Prosecuting anyone for "sexual Penetration" that involves a hand on a thigh is asinine.  If they do indeed actually have a picture of penetration, well in addition to the boy, they need to be looking pretty damn closely at the screening committee of the yearbook.

My bet is that they have a picture of what we all would consider "groping", and have redefined their term, either in law or in the media, to stretch "groping" into the much more sinister sounding "Penetration".  Kinda like you can be guilty of driving under the influence while not actually driving, or being under the influence.

As to the idiocy of even bothering to prosecute groping at a prom?  you guys already covered that.

[BlueStarLizzard]

 

Thats all I have to say...

And skidmark, as of my experance, those dark corners were heavily patroled by teachers to avoid such activities....

Of course, that didn't stop anything, it just happened elsewere.  

I will note that our Yearbook teacher would have never let such a picture into the yearbook. My friends couldn't even manage to smuggle out the picture of me flipping one of them off. Still disapointed about that...

[BlueStarLizzard]

Just a thought, but how long is it gonna be before the sex offender regestry isn't going to mean aanything because its full of poor kids like these along with the actual offenders?

[vicious viper]

What is the law in California?  Is sexual interaction between minors an offense on child abuse/rape laws?  

I thought Texas had a rule about less than 3 years difference, but I don't know.

It's common, confusing laws against underage sex with federal laws against child porn.  It can be child porn even if the underlying sexual interaction is legal.  Its only requirement is someone involved is under 18, and that visual records are taken.

[wmenorr67]

And yet one of the stars from Lost who is 51 married a 16 year old girl in Vegas just the other day.  Her parents signed off on the marriage.

[Harold Tuttle]

I was at a Sally Mann talk last week

She said that any photo of children urinating has been defined as child porn.
No review, no interpretation. If it has a "child" and peeing, it is Child Porn.

Manneken Pis is Child Porn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manneken_Pis

[Monkeyleg]

I don't know where everyone is seeing the photo, as I'm not. Doesn't matter.

Moving along a bit - are there no longer dark corners at these events?

True enough. There's no way I would have ever inappropriately touched a girl in front of others, and I was a first-class jerk back then. (Still am, some would say).

That said, police and officials do have discretion in these matters. They use it every day, or they should. There's a lot of real crime in CA needing the attention of police and prosecutors. Let the kids' folks deal with it.

[SteveT]

Looks like the hand was down the bottom... would have just been local lore and legend, but the local newspaper ran with it it.

"Sgt. Jeremiah MacKay of the Big Bear sheriff's station said Tuesday that although his investigation was not complete, it showed that sexual penetration of a minor had occurred"
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20073085-504083.html#ixzz1Q2FrRdQ2

I think this was well covered in a comment:

[Contemplating the arrest of the teenage male]
"As much as we know teenagers are and will be teenagers, by law we cannot ignore it," MacKay said.
Yes, you can.
Morons."

I am a fan of sane law enforcement resource allocation.  If the folks involved aren't complaining and aren't hurt, use the resources for areas where people are [murders, rapes, gangs... or, much neglected and I hate it, fraud under 40k].

Whenever I hear about arrests for cartoon pornography and other absurdities [like teen on teen sexuality with less than 2 years difference], I have to wonder about how slow things are in that law enforcement office.. but then, you know, its not, its just that those sorts are crimes are a lot easier and safer to enforce. 

Not to ignore the rest of your well pointed thread, but I think it's the fraud OVER 40K that's being ignored.   

Recently I offered to help a street person in my neighborhood in NYC get an extra bag of groceries.   The paperwork involved (I gave up before success) was well over 3x that of what it took to BUY MY CO-OP (including CO-OP board approval)

[Northwoods]

Well, I guess that scene in FMJ will jacket will have extra meaning for the guy after this.

[Boomhauer]

And yet one of the stars from Lost who is 51 married a 16 year old girl in Vegas just the other day.  Her parents signed off on the marriage.

That's pretty *expletive deleted*ing sick...

[Jim147]

Not to ignore the rest of your well pointed thread, but I think it's the fraud OVER 40K that's being ignored.   

Recently I offered to help a street person in my neighborhood in NYC get an extra bag of groceries.   The paperwork involved (I gave up before success) was well over 3x that of what it took to BUY MY CO-OP (including CO-OP board approval)

Try as hard as I might, but I'm not drunk enough to understand what your talking about.

Just a thought, but how long is it gonna be before the sex offender regestry isn't going to mean aanything because its full of poor kids like these along with the actual offenders?

I had two techs at the last place I worked on the sex offender list. Both cases involved their high school girlfriends parents.

One of the guys was a great dad of three kids. What sucked for them was all the hate mail they got for being on the list. What sucked for me was I had to run all their calls that required security checks. (Except Lake City Ammo Plant, it is a neat place.)

jim

[Balog]

Yeah, when they started putting drunks peeing in alleys and stuff like this on the registry it lost its meaning. Sad :/

[Doggy Daddy]

She said that any photo of children urinating has been defined as child porn.
No review, no interpretation. If it has a "child" and peeing, it is Child Porn.

Gonna be a rude awakening for all the people with peeing Calvin stickers on their rear windows.

DD

[Perd Hapley]

Gonna be a rude awakening for all the people with peeing Calvin stickers on their rear windows.

Would that were true. Of all the reasons the Supreme Court was wrong to rule that drawings are not child porn, that is the best one. (Kind of pretty much kidding, here, folks. I hates me some peeing Calvin stickers.)

[MicroBalrog]

Just a thought, but how long is it gonna be before the sex offender regestry isn't going to mean aanything because its full of poor kids like these along with the actual offenders?

This is already the case.

[CNYCacher]

This is already the case.

Yes but unfortunately without the loss of meaning in the eyes of the public

[MicroBalrog]

Yes but unfortunately without the loss of meaning in the eyes of the public

Sex offender registries are  the focus of several wrong-headed ideas the modern political world has about many things - sexuality, freedom, personal responsibility, age, privacy, rights. All of these, mainstream politics and the media that feed it have gotten horribly, painfully wrong.

[280plus]

Okay so who hasn't tried this (feeling up his/her date) when they were a hormone-fueled teenager.

Not me! 

[T.O.M.]

Sex offender registries are  the focus of several wrong-headed ideas the modern political world has about many things - sexuality, freedom, personal responsibility, age, privacy, rights. All of these, mainstream politics and the media that feed it have gotten horribly, painfully wrong.

In my opinion, sex offender registries are a lot like assault weapons bans...they do nothing to fix the problem, but they are something a political candidtae can stand up and proudly claim responsibiity for to the masses.  Personally, I'm less worried about the pervert that's been caught and convicted as I am the unknown one who has never been caught...

[roo_ster]

Just a thought, but how long is it gonna be before the sex offender regestry isn't going to mean aanything because its full of poor kids like these along with the actual offenders?

It is there.

I perused all the nearby offenders and the wheat/chaff ratio was unfortunate.  Dude on it closest to our home was they typical "dumbazz older teenager having sex with his dumbazz younger teenager girlfriend."  Dude's record indicates he is a threat NO ONE.

But he is on the sex offender registry for life.