Colorado prosecutors are faced with the daunting possibility of having to criminally charge over a hundred school kids for creating and distributing kiddie porn on their cell phones.
And that tally of juvenile offenders may be just the “tip of the iceberg” in Cañon City’s sexting scandal, school officials are warning.
Last week administrators in that district discovered that a large percent of their student body was making, sending and saving upwards of 400 nude images of their classmates.
The “widespread” illegal activity had been going on “for quite some time” and involved the sexual exploitation of some victims as young as only 12 years of age.
Even more shocking, the pornographic image files were being secretly stored on students’ cell phones in “photo vault” apps; a technology that parents and teachers apparently weren’t familiar with, until recently.
No arrests have yet been made in the case which, so far, involves eighth-graders to graduating seniors, but a full probe was launched on Monday and is far from completed, said law enforcement officials.
The sext-messaging blowup has also derailed the varsity football team’s hope of playing in state playoffs, as coaches quickly shelved practice and upcoming games when they learned some of the players were implicated.
Those athletes were reportedly among a number of students who have been suspended too, although, at this early stage in the investigation, no one has been permanently expelled.
According to Cañon City High School’s Facebook page, the matter was brought to their attention via an anonymous tip filed through Colorado’s ‘Safe2Tell’ program that allows youngsters to report abusive classmates without fear of reprisal.
An account admin also cautioned in a recent Facebook update that “the total scope” of their kiddie porn sexting scandal “is not out there.”
@EponymousRox
Sex Offenders, Sexting, Juvenile Offenders
