Everyone knows that child pornography is a serious offense. Likewise, we know that the consequences can be devastating and life ending. While this may seem appropriate for adults, what about a child who’s charged with sending risqué pictures of themselves? In what many adults find to be an overreach of the law, we are seeing high school students charged with child pornography just for sexting. If your child is facing a situation like this, please reach out to Law Office of Michael L. Fell at (949) 585-9055 as soon as possible.

Charges for child pornography can be severe

If your child is nearly 18 then it’s possible they could be charged as an adult. If that happens, then they could be look at as much as five years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. They may also have to register on the sex offender registry for the rest of their lives. No one wants this to happen to their child – which is why you must contact Law Office of Michael L. Fell right away.

Child pornography laws are too vague

The purpose of child pornography laws are to ensure that we can punish sexual predators who take advantage of children. However, some of the laws are so vague that a teenager can be charged with distributing child pornography when all they did was send a picture of themselves. In some cases, they can be charged with possession of child pornography for simply having a picture of themselves.

Many teens have no idea that this is against a law

A high profile case in another state involved two friends who went to a house party where alcohol was present. A third friend of theirs did a dance in which she took off her shirt. Her friends taped the dance with their cell phones and both of them later sent the video to other friends.

While the parents of the girl who took her shirt off would likely have preferred that they didn’t send the video to anyone else, is a charge of distributing child pornography really appropriate? According to the law, the way it’s written today, it does qualify. But does that address the letter of the law or the purpose of the law? If you’re in a situation like this then you need an experienced juvenile crimes attorney to help.

There may be many ways to address your case

Depending on the specifics of what your case involves, we may work to have the charges dropped altogether. In other instances, we may work to have them reduced to juvenile charges and to charges that don’t require registration on the sex offender registry. In other instances, we may take the charge to a jury and fight for the total exoneration of your child.

No matter what the charge is today, it’s important to take it seriously. This is not something that can be ignored. To learn more about how you can move forward, reach out to Law Office of Michael L. Fell at (949) 585-9055.