Boy ‘humiliated’ after naked selfie recorded as crime

A 14-year-old teen reportedly has his name entered into a British police database for 10 years after he sent a naked picture of himself to another teen at his school.

The file remains active for at least ten years, so potential employers could learn of the incident if they were to conduct an advanced Criminal Records Bureau check.

Instead, when he was questioned about the incident at his school with a police officer present, his parents were not informed, and there was no one defending the teenager, or even advising him about the implications of the interrogation and his answers to questions. People teased me about it. I wouldn’t consider it bullying, it’s just what happens to everyone when people find out.

The popular app allows users to send pictures and videos that destruct a few seconds after they have been seen by the recipient.

In some instances youngsters have been targeted by strangers who attempted to blackmail them over images they had been tricked into taking, the NCA said.

“At best he was naive, at worst he was a teenager”, she said.

“In this day and age, it’s referred to as sexting and apparently it happens all the time. It is just how teenagers flirt these days”.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) launched a campaign in June after being inundated with reports of sexting. If any party chooses to report the incident to police, the Home Office counting rules are clear that it must be recorded as a crime. Educating children on the dangers of sending explicit pictures of themselves needs to be a priority, she said.

The officer then recorded it as a crime.

The NSPCC said the ChildLine service provided 1,300 counselling sessions past year for young people anxious about sexting.

Today BBC reported the boy sent a naked Snapchat photo to a girl the same age as him who he had been flirting with.

Claude Knights, chief executive, Kidscape, said: “This case highlights numerous issues raised by what has come to be known as “sexting”.

He said most people would be “astonished” that a boy of 14 would have such an incident on his police file and that police based in schools should take more of a pastoral role.

She added: ” Once circulated, the sender loses all control of that image and can cause significant distress when it gets into wider hands.