A Davis County juvenile court attorney is seeing at least one case a week involving teenagers as young as the seventh grade who send or ask for nude photographs via texting.
Pre-teens and teenagers who take nude photos and text them to friends often do not realize they are abusing themselves, officials say.
April is Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Awareness month. Officials in the Top of Utah are hoping parents will become more vigilant and educate their children that sending nude photos or sexually explicit texts is illegal, as well as inappropriate.
"Kids are braver and more willing to say things with text messages than they would in person," said Doug Miller, the director of Davis County's Children Justice Center.
It is becoming more common for sixth- and seventh-graders to send nude photos of themselves to older students in junior high and high school, he said.
And the preteens do not realize they can be charged with a class B misdemeanor in juvenile court for sending the explicit photographs. If the perpetrators are 16 or 17 years old, they can be charged with a class A misdemeanor for distributing pornographic material.
"They don't seem to appreciate, or have a real understanding, of what they are doing," said Deputy Davis County Attorney Ryan Perkins, who is assigned to 2nd District Juvenile Court in Farmington.
Perkins said he gets at least one case a week concerning teenagers as young as the seventh grade who are sending or asking for nude photographs.
Perkins said the law was changed following a "sex sting" that involved students at Farmington Junior High School and other schools in Davis School District in 2008. Before the change, only felony charges could be filed in such cases.
The majority of his cases are girls being charged with having or sending pornographic images on their cell phones, Perkins said.
"The boys are requesting it, and the girls send it as a way to get attention," he said.
Cindy Lorrigan, a victim's advocate with the Box Elder County Attorney's Office, said her office is seeing more of these types of cases, although it seems to her more boys are being charged than girls.
"They don't understand the ramifications of what can happen," Lorrigan said.
"Once (the photo) is sent out, it can go anywhere. It can be posted on the Internet. All of their friends at school can see it. They just don't think far enough ahead."
Syracuse Police Sgt. Heath Rogers said parents need to take charge and look at what their teens and preteens are doing with their cell phones.
Buying a cell phone without a camera is almost impossible, but "if you're paying the bill, then be a parent and teach them that, once you send a picture, you don't know who it's going to," Rogers said.
He said the teens are either acting before thinking about the long-term consequences or falling under peer pressure.
"We had a case where a young lady took a photo of herself and sent it to her boyfriend. He sent it to several of his friends," Rogers said. "This girl is terrified that it is passing around the school."
Max Rogers, director of the NetSmartz Program with the Utah Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, said there's an attitude among teens, especially those of high school age, who think, "If it doesn't show my face, it's not attached to me."
What they fail to realize is the recipient knows who sent the photo, he said.
Max Rogers and six other representatives visit schools throughout the state, offering presentations about the Internet and cell phone safety.
The presentations include video clips, including one that depicts a photo of a girl on a bulletin board.
"It's not a naked picture or anything like that, but you can hear clicks, like downloading as other students look at it, then someone takes it down and hands it to another person," Max Rogers said.
The girl comes back in the classroom sees her photo on the bulletin board and tries to take it down, only to have it reappear, again and again, he said.
"You can watch (the students') faces and see which ones are putting themselves at risk."
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