A 14-year-old is facing felony charges for distributing child pornography after she sent a nude photo of herself to a classmate through Snapchat.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, the girl, identified only as “Jane Doe,” has been charged in Rice County, and she could face up to seven years in prison, a $10,000 fine, and 10 years on the sex offender registry if found guilty.
The ACLU says Doe used Snapchat to send a nude selfie to a boy she liked. He then allegedly saved the photo and shared it with other students. It also argues that Minnesota’s child pornography statute, which aims to “protect minors from the physical and psychological damage caused by their being used in pornographic work depicting sexual conduct which involves minors,” doesn’t apply to Doe because she voluntarily sent the photo herself.
“I’m not a criminal for taking a selfie,” Doe said in a statement through the ACLU chapter. “Sexting is common among teens at my school, and we shouldn’t face charges for doing it. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I’m going through.”
In response, the ACLU chapter has filed a brief accusing the prosecutor of having an “absurd interpretation and perverse application” of the law against Doe and that the charge “jeopardizes thousands of minors…by criminalizing increasingly common adolescent behavior.”
H/T CBS Minnesota
