Police seek graphic photos of teen for use as evidence in sexting case
Virginia state police want to take photographs of 17-year-old male in a sexually aroused state as part of case against him over sexting his ex-girlfriend who was 15 years old at the time
A US teenager is fighting efforts by police who want to take photos of him in a sexually aroused state to try to prove a sexting case against him.
Prosecutors in Virginia told a judge they need photos of the 17-year-old’s erect penis to compare against photos he is accused of sending to his 15-year-old girlfriend at the time. The teenager has been charged in juvenile court with possessing and manufacturing child pornography related to images of himself he’s accused of creating.
The teen’s lawyers are fighting a search warrant allowing the photographs in court. A hearing is scheduled for next week.
Defence lawyer Jessica Foster said she is unaware of any cases where police have pursued similar photographs, particularly of a minor.
“This is crazy,” she said. “Nobody’s even heard of something like this. ... The charges are excessive, and the means by which they are seeking evidence are outrageous.”
“The charges are excessive, and the means by which they are seeking evidence are outrageous.”
The teen’s appointed advocate, Carlos Flores Laboy, said his understanding is that police plan to do some sort of computer analysis of the photos to try and prove a similarity to the explicit photo found on the girl’s phone. He said the search warrant vividly demonstrates the importance of defending individuals’ constitutional rights against invasions of privacy.
