North Carolina: Teenager prosecuted for having naked pictures of himself

Now, he has struck a plea deal to avoid both jail time and being registered as a sex offender.

The graphic images on Copening’s phone were first discovered when authorities investigated the widespread sharing of sexual images without consent at his school. He was 16 at the time he took the pictures with his then 16-year-old girlfriend. The kicker: They were old enough to be charged as adults in North Carolina, but young enough to be considered sexually exploitable minors, so Copening and Denson were both the adult perpetrators and underage victims.

His girlfriend, 16, was similarly charged and accepted a plea deal earlier this summer.

The cases have been controversial with experts calling them “ludicrous” and condemning officials in Fayetteville for prosecuting the teens exclusively to make a moral point, according to The Guardian. He was suspended as quarterback of his high school football team while the case was being resolved. In a logic-defying ruling, a court prosecuted the boy as an adult for the crime of sexually exploiting a minor (again, himself). Copening was not involved in that case.

“It’s dysfunctional to be charged with possession of your own image”, said Justin Patchin, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin and co-founder of the research website cyberbullying.org.

An expert on privacy issues told The Guardian that being charged for having photos of yourself on a cell phone should not be a crime.

“Kids should not be charged for that”.

According to Patchin, laws against “sexting” are not that uncommon, but it is pretty rare for law enforcement to prosecute teen couples consensually sending each other sexual images.

Benson took a plea deal and was eventually ordered to pay $200 in costs, take a class in making good decisions and do 30 hours of community service.

The legal situations surrounding the taking and ending of such images is complex, with federal law and state law not always in sync, and generally yet to catch up with social changes brought about by technological changes – such as naked selfies. If they comply, their records will be wiped clean.