S.B. ( a.k.a. Senate Bill) 407 became effective on June 17, 2011, after the Governor signed the bill during the 82nd regular session of the Texas legislature. State Senator Kirk Watson wrote S.B. 407 to address the “offense of electronic transmission of certain visual material depicting a minor and to certain educational programs concerning the prevention and awareness of that offense.” As more students are getting cell phones, this new practice of sending “sexually explicit images of themselves to one another via text message,” (e.g., “sexting”) has become an increasing issue among teenagers that often leads to bullying or harassment. (FYI this is such an embarrassing and sensitive issue that children rarely bring this up in conversation to parents who have not full demonstrated that they are EXPERT LISTENERS. In other words, lecturing parents will rarely EVER know about this type of abuse )
Before the Texas legislature enacted S.B. 407, if the school district caught students sexting, the state could convict them of possession and distribution of child pornography, which is a felony—meaning the student could go to jail and have a lifetime registration as a sex offender. S.B. 407 remedied this problem by “discourage[ing] children from sexting but not ruin[ing] their young lives” if the court imposed the maximum penalty.(My research regarding penalties for Juveniles and Adults are as follows:
GENERAL COUNTRY
WIDE Juvenile Penalties
* WARNING.
Juvenile judges can choose to punish a teen who commits a sexting offense with
a verbal warning without requiring any
other penalty.
GENERAL COUNTRY
WIDE Adult Penalties
If a teen is 18 or older, that teen can be charged as an
adult and face more significant penalties, especially if convicted of child
pornography or a similar charge.
Teen Sexting in Texas
With the rise of cell phone use, especially among teenagers,
the practice of “sexting”—sending nude or sexually suggestive photos by text
message—has also become common.
Some states have enacted laws against sexting that occurs
between teenagers, with penalties that are less severe than those that would
apply to an adult who sends such photos to an under-age person. Other states
punish sexting under pre-existing laws against child enticement and
pornography.
Teen Sexting in
Texas
Texas punishes teen sexting under its law against
electronically transmitting sexual depictions of children. Under this law, it
is illegal for one minor to electronically send an image of someone younger
than 18 years old to another minor; this includes images of the sender,
recipient, or another underage person.
However, minors have a defense to prosecution when the
images are solely of the sender or recipient, were sent within a dating
relationship, and both parties are not more than two years apart in age
(including if one party is 18 or older).
Images sent to harass or bully the recipient may incur
additional penalties for the sender.T (x. Stat. & Code Ann. § 43.261.)
Adults who sext with minors may be prosecuted for distributing
sexual images to a minor, possessing or distributing child pornography, or
promoting sexual performance by a minor. These crimes are usually punished as
felonies, described below. (Tx. Stat. & Code Ann. § 43.24, -25, & -26.)
SEXTING AND FEDERAL LAW
Depending on the circumstances, sexting may also be a crime
under federal law.
The Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the
Exploitation of Children Today (PROTECT) Act of 2003 makes it illegal to
produce, distribute, receive, or possess with intent to distribute any obscene
visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Knowing
possession of such material—without intent to distribute—is also a crime under
the PROTECT Act. (18 U.S.C. § 1466A(a)(1).)
Federal law also criminalizes causing a minor to take part
in sexually explicit conduct in order to visually depict that conduct. Parents
who allow this behavior can also be prosecuted. (18 U.S.C. § 2251.)
It’s also a federal crime to use a computer to ship,
transport, receive, distribute, or reproduce for distribution a depiction of a
minor actually engaging in sexually explicit conduct, or any material that
otherwise constitutes child pornography. It’s another federal crime to promote
or solicit sexually explicit material involving a minor. (18 U.S.C. §§ 2252,
2252A.)
Penalties for
Sexting in Texas
It is a Class C misdemeanor to minors to send or receive
sexts from other minors. Penalties may include a fine of up to $500. Penalties
may increase for second and subsequent convictions or if the crime was part of
cyber-bullying or other harassment.
However, a minor who receives sexts as part of
cyber-bullying or other forms of harassment will be unlikely to be charged with
(or convicted of) a crime.
An adult who sexts with a minor may be charged under one of
several state laws mentioned above, depending on whether the adult sent,
received, or solicited the sexts; and penalties increase if the adult
distributed those images to others as child pornography. Penalties may include
a fine of up to $10,000, up to 20 years in prison, or b
oth.
Sex Offender
Registration
An adult punished for an offense involving sexting with a
minor may be required, in addition to the fines and prison term described
above, to register as a sex offender. And although it is less probable that a
juvenile will have to register as a sex offender, it is a possibility that you
should discuss with your attorney (described below).
Speak to an
Attorney
Any charges that stem from teen sexting can result in some
very serious consequences for the teen, the people who shared photos with the
teen, and potentially for the teen's parents or guardians (who may be charged
under Texas’ child enticement or endangerment laws for allowing the teen’s
involvement in illegal sexual activities).
If you’ve been questioned by the police or charged with a
sexting crime, you need to speak to an experienced local criminal defense
lawyer immediately. Only an experienced local attorney will be able to provide
you with legal advice, information about the courts and judges in your area,
and the potential consequences of the charges against you, including whether
juvenile defendants may be required to register as sex offenders. But federal prosecution of juveniles for sexting may be unlikely. the Federal Jvenile Delinquency Act (FJDA) generally provides that, where possible, juveniles should be prosecuted in state - not federal courst. (18 U.S.C 532.0)
While S.B. 407 mostly made changes to the Texas Penal Code, the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Texas Family Code, the bill did make changes to the TEC. “[S.B.] 407 requires the Texas School Safety Center . . . to create a sexting educational program” that would “be available to all school districts” and authorizes the school district to offer programs to its students. This bill amended the TEC by adding these school programs to address all the consequences of sexting and “the connection between bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, and a minor sharing visual material depicting a minor engaged in sexual conduct.”80 S.B. 407 also requires school districts to make information about these programs
available to both students in appropriate grade levels and their parents.III. DISCUSSION OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER
BULLYING IN SCHOOLS AND ITS CONNECTION WITH YOUTH SUICIDE
Who can forget the devastating story of Asher Brown, a thirteen-year-old boy who committed suicide because other students bullied him and accused him of being gay at his school in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston. ( Despite your religious beliefs, any bullying based on sexual orientation is unacceptable) Asher’s parents said they complained to the school many times, but the school disregarded their concerns about their son. As “compared to their heterosexual peers,” young LGBT people “are at increased risk for bullying, teasing, harassment, physical assault, and suicide related
behaviors A ten year study of 7,000 LGBT students showed that due to their sexual orientation “eight of ten students had been verbally harassed at school; [f]our of ten had been physically harassed at school; [s]ix of ten felt unsafe at school; and one of five had been the victim of a physical assault at school.”
ASHER'S LAW HOUSE BILL 2343
As a result of Asher Brown’s suicide, State Representative Garnet Coleman wrote H.B. 2343—known as Asher’s Law—to address “youth suicide and . . . the prevention of associated discrimination, harassment, bullying, and cyberbullying.” The bill would amend the [Texas] Health and Safety Code to require the
Texas Department of Health, in coordination with the Texas Education Agency, to develop a comprehensive suicide prevention program for implementation in junior, middle, and high schools. The bill would also
amend the [Texas] Education Code to prohibit discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against . . . a student enrolled in the school district on account of actual or perceived ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or national origin of the . . . student
HOUSE BILL 1386
Garnet Coleman filed this bill on March 7, 2011, but it has not made it through the process for enactment by the Texas legislature—the next step is to have a public hearing, then a vote in the house and the senate, and finally a signature by the Governor. S.B. House Bill 1386 Garnet Coleman also wrote H.B. 1386, which became effective on June 17, 2011.The bill is similar to H.B. 2343 in that it amended the Texas Health
and Safety Code to require the Texas Department of Health, working with the Texas Education Agency (TEA), to provide suicide prevention programs in schools. However, the bill did not amend the TEC to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or other minority groups. Texas, while still in the
majority, has not included sexual orientation as a protected class of citizens against discrimination in its laws. national Non Profit Organizations "The Trevor Project" & "It Gets Better Project"
Next issue will deal with BALANCING THE CONSTITUTION ADN CIVIL RIGHTS WITH NEW ANTI-BULLYING LAWS as they relate to Free Speech, the Americans with Disabiltiy Act of 1990 and the Office of Civil Rights.
Be the Change you want to see
Peace to All
Coach J
