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RCPI - Perú

Former British Child Abuse Detective Guilty of Sex With Teen

London - UK.- (FoxNews) A former British child abuse detective pleaded guilty Monday to having sex with a 15-year-old girl whose family he had befriended during an investigation.
Andrew Rowe, 31, hung his head after admitting to five sexual offenses — including sex with a child — at Birmingham Crown Court via video-link from a prison across town.
The Staffordshire Police department in central England, where Rowe worked for 12 years, said he had been communicating with the girl through the social networking site Facebook and sent her "hundreds of inappropriate messages" this year. It said he had tried to cover his tracks by deleting electronic evidence of his crimes.
"He ingratiated himself with a family, then betrayed his young victim and her parents who had placed their trust in him as a police officer and as a supposed friend," Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale said in a statement. "It is hard to imagine a more shocking abuse of position by an officer."
It was not clear from the police statement how exactly he met the family or how long he had been corresponding with the girl. The crimes were first reported in April, after which Rowe was suspended and then resigned from the force.
The girl's family said two top-ranking Staffordshire officers personally apologized for Rowe's acts.
"The hardest thing at the beginning was the prospect of reporting a police officer to the police, wondering what level of support, if any, we would receive," the family said in a statement.
"We would now urge anybody who finds themselves in a similar situation to report the matter immediately, as we have received the highest level of help and support possible."
Staffordshire Police could not immediately say when Rowe would be sentenced. The telephone number for the local prosecutors' office was out of order Monday.

Parents Rent Children to Pornographers for a Few Cents in Peru

Lima - Perú.- (Latin American Herald) Many poor central Peruvian families prostitute their children for a “nuevo sol” (34 cents) and complaints have been received that children as young as 3 are being raped in pornographic videos, the press reported Sunday.
“Many families in the interior of the country, for example, in (the Amazon city of Iquitos), rent out their children for money. In exchange for a nuevo sol or a quarter of a chicken, they order them to prostitute themselves,” Accion por los Niños director Maria Teresa Mosquera said in a commentary published by the Peru.21 newspaper.
The children’s rights defender also said that these families turn their children over to the criminals with the aim of making a little money or acquiring a few luxuries.
She said that the sexual deviants often convince their victims via the Internet, in “chat rooms” or on social networks.
The Peruvian Network against Child Pornography, meanwhile, complained that its experts had determined that various foreign bands are taking advantage of the sexual availability of minors in the country’s poorest areas to tape pornographic videos which are later sold on the black market.
“We have information that they are making the tapes in the Peruvian jungle, in cities like Iquitos, Pucallpa and Madre de Dios,” said the president of the Network, Dimitri Senmache.
He said that little boys and girls are being abused in front of the cameras starting at age 3, adding that some of them are later murdered or smuggled out of the country to be prostituted or to do all sorts of other work, Peru.21 reported.
The bands also operate in tourist cities like Cuzco and Puno, where the videos allegedly are shot by foreigners.
Sources with the Peruvian police told Peru.21 that some of the child porn videos are sold at marketplaces in Lima, and they emphasized the difficulties confronting the authorities in makeing arrests in the matter given the delays in issuing arrest orders and existing regulations to protect the privacy of telecommunications.

Peruvian parents renting children to pornographers: Report

Lima - Peru.- (Hindustan Times) Peruvian families are renting their children as young as three to pornographic filmmakers for a 'nuevo sol' (34 cents), a media report said.
"Many families in the interior of country, for example, in the Amazon city of Iquitos, rent out their children for money. In exchange for a nuevo sol or a quarter of a chicken, they order them to prostitute themselves," Accion por los Ninos director Maria Teresa Mosquera told newspaper Peru 21 on Sunday.
The Peruvian Network against Child Pornography complained that its experts have identified foreign bands, which operate in tourist cities like Cuzco and Puno, abusing minors in deprived areas, making pornography and selling it in black market.
Their network operates through chat rooms and children are often killed after making pornographic films, they claimed.
"We have information that they are making the tapes in the Peruvian jungle, in cities like Iquitos, Pucallpa and Madre de Dios," said the network's president Dimitri Senmache.
Peruvian police cited difficulties like prosecution delays and existing privacy protection rules in arresting culprits.

All about the "Enjo kōsai" in Japan

Enjo-kōsai (援助交際?) (shortened form enkō (援交?)) means "compensated dating" and is a practice which originated in Japan where older men give money and/or luxury gifts to attractive women for their companionship, and possibly sexual favors. The female participants range from school-age girls to housewives. A common misconception is that enjo-kōsai always involves some form of sexual activity. The term enjo-kōsai first appeared in the Asahi Shimbun on September 20, 1994. In the opposite case of women paying men, it is called gyaku-enjo-kōsai (逆援助交際?), or "wakari."

Definition

What constitutes enjo-kōsai is heavily contested within Japan. The most common connotation is that it is a form of child prostitution whereby participating girls sell their bodies in exchange for designer goods or money. However, to label enjo-kōsai by the most basic definition of prostitution whereby one attains money through the exchange of sexual acts,[1] excludes an array of other activities.
Many groups, including women's centers and associations within Japan include “the exchange of a girl's company or time” as part of this equation[2] and insist that these other activities define enjo-kōsai. Anthropologist Laura Miller argues in her research that the majority of enjo-kōsai dates consists of groups of girls going with a group of older men to a karaoke bar for several hours and being paid for their time.[3]
Furthermore, in a 1998 survey by the Asian Women's Fund, researchers found that fewer than 10 percent of all high school girls engage in enjo-kōsai and over 90 percent of the girls interviewed attested to feeling uncomfortable with the exchange or purchase of sexual services for money.[4] Statistics show that the majority of girls are not delving into the realm of sexual exchange.

Perceptions in Japanese society

Generally in Japan, enjo-kōsai is looked down upon as a large-scale social problem. A 1997 poll in the Japanese TV Asahi program Asa Made Nama Terebi showed that 70 percent of respondents opposed enjo-kōsai, while 30 percent approved of it.[5] Typically, it is perceived as an extension of Japan's growing focus on materialism, much of which is what critics claim is the cause of enjo-kōsai. Critics worry that girls involved in enjo-kōsai will grow up to be unfit wives and mothers. This perception arises from suspicions that when these girls are adults, they will quickly abandon their loyalties and commitments to their family for offers of money and material benefits.[5] However, certain feminist groups and critics find enjo-kōsai to be empowering and as an act to “undermine patriarchal models propriety used to evaluate and control women”. Control over their bodies and means to support themselves is a new kind of independence for these girls. Good women in Japan are supposed to be sensible, modest, nurturing and respectful, yet girls participating in enjo-kōsai clearly reject such virtues of female restraint and modesty in Japan. Feminists such as Chizuko Ueno point out that the accidental access of girls to this dating market was not a matter of ethics, but of probability.[5] Sooner or later, these girls and young women would, in a desire for financial independence, tap into this market for their own empowerment.

Media depiction

Within Japan, the media tends to show enjo-kōsai in a rather negative light. The typical scenario involves a girl desperate for money, so she decides to partake in enjo-kōsai. Only later does she stop when a friend or individual intervenes and informs her of the potential risks and consequences of her behavior. Several examples from films and television series are listed below.
In Hideaki Anno’s 1998 movie Love & Pop, the main character, a 16-year-old high school girl named Hiromi, goes on subsidized dates in order to purchase a ring she adores. Her parents do not pay much attention to her and Hiromi often hangs out with her three closest friends who have been going on subsidized dates. Feeling like a train that travels on a predetermined track, Hiromi follows her friends and begins doing the same. Throughout the movie, they meet with different kinds of men and accompany them in various activities. These activities include having dinner at a restaurant, tasting a man’s cooking, singing at a karaoke bar, shopping in a video rental store, etc. Although Hiromi nearly gives in and has sex for the remainder of money needed for the ring, her date gives her a lesson on why she shouldn’t give up her body.
Meanwhile, the Japanese live action drama series GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka), a girl student named Miyabi, out of boredom and lack of adult supervision at home, pressures her friends, Chikako and Erika, to go on subsidized dates with older men, and to steal their money when the men are in the showers. When Chikako accidentally meets their teacher Onizuka on one of these dates, enjo-kōsai rookie Onizuka proceeds with it to see these subsidized dates first hand. In the hotel room, Chikako insists that Onizuka take a shower. Onizuka realizes the trap, stops Chikako's attempt to escape, and teaches her a lesson why her first sexual experience should come out of love and not have anything to do with money. Incidentally, Onizuka (himself a virgin) learns the same lesson from that very occasion.
Conversation over the controversy of enjo-kōsai even finds its way into shows geared toward girls (shōjo) between the ages of 11 and 14 in the form of the highly popular Super Gals! anime series. During the first episode of the series, straight A student Aya goes on subsidized dates because she wants to have money and fun like the other girls, but also because her strict parents and schedule would not allow her to have a job. Main character Ran, even although she believes the gyaru (gal) philosophy “If you want it, go and get it,” strongly disapproves of Aya’s action because she believes a gyaru should have self-respect and not treat herself like merchandise. Ran tells Aya that they can have fun even without money. Aya becomes persuaded by Ran, and not only do they begin a new friendship, but Aya quits going on subsidized dates as a result.
In Shunji Iwai's film "All About Lily Chou-Chou", Shiori Tsuda, a female classmate, is blackmailed by Shusuke Hoshino into enjo-kōsai. The film isn't explicit about whether or not Shiori Tsuda performs sexual favours for her "customers", but the connotation is present. The depiction within the film of the practice could be considered negative, as the process of being blackmailed into it seems to push the character into some form of mental instability (although it's not clear whether that instability was present prior to the blackmail), culminating in her tragic demise. It is also used as a weapon of control by Hoshino, rather than empowering Tsuda in any way.

Societal backdrop

Although the greater part of Japanese society discourages this type of behavior, that has not stopped teachers, monks, government officials, company executives, and others of high social status from being arrested for their involvement with enjo kōsai.[6]
A study done by the Socioeconomic Research Department at the Nomura Institute of Research showed that in 97 percent of book stores and convenience stores surveyed in 1996 sold “pornographic portrayals of children in either photographic or cartoon form”.[7] Moreover, as of 1998, Japan was the source of 80 percent of the commercial child pornography available on the Internet.[8] Actually, it was not until 1999 that Japan joined the international community in banning child pornography, not out of moral concern, but more so because of the bad publicity the country was receiving.[6]

Government regulation

Prostitution has been illegal in Japan since 1958, but only prostitutes and pimps were punished, with customers escaping any penalty from the law. During SCAP’s occupation of Japan, the Child Welfare Law was introduced into legislation as a means to protect children from “lewd behavior”. Many have criticized the law as being too vague to protect Japanese children from sexual abuse and say it does not do enough to keep girls away from sex markets.[5]
During the 1990s enjo kōsai, as well as other forms of child exploitation, gained national attention in Japan leading to international awareness.[8] Due to pressure from outside NGOs and other industrialized nations, the Japanese government updated its laws relating to child exploitation. The Law for Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and for Protecting Children, which prohibited an adult from paying a person under the age of 18 for obscene acts, was passed in 1999.[9] The law made the legal age limit 18 for consenting sexual activities[dubious – discuss] and punishes the adult offender as the criminal party instead of the child.
To combat enjo kōsai and other forms of juvenile misbehavior, many prefectures have instituted a program of hodō (補導?). Hodōin are plain-clothed police officers and volunteers who approach youths who appear to be participating in juvenile delinquency (out past 11 p.m., under-age smoking, wearing expensive accessories, etc.) and offer guidance against such behavior. When police consider it necessary, teens are taken to a juvenile center or police station for “formal guidance” and entered into a confidential police directory.[5] Since enjo kōsai is seen as a moral problem relating to Japanese youth, care is taken not to ostracize the girls but instead give them assistance and advice to steer them away from enjo-kōsai.

Spread to other countries

Taiwan

While having its foundations in Japan, enjo-kōsai began to spread to other East Asian nations in the late 1990s via media. Enjo-kōsai became popular in Taiwan after the airing of the Japanese dorama God, Please Give Me More Time, in which a young woman engages in the activity and suffers social and physical costs. In the end, however, the heroine is able to turn her life around and seems to project a positive image for youth. According to scholar Oi-Wan Lam, Taiwanese teens identified with the love story in plot and the subculture of the characters. Lam also points to the similarities between Taiwanese and Japanese subcultures, and the notion that enjo-kōsai is not actually an occupation, writing, “Sex work is not recognized by the society as a form of work.”[10] Due to this recognition, teens in both cultures feel they will not suffer consequences for participating in the activity.
A key difference between enjo-kōsai in Japan and Taiwan is the way in which girls set up dates with customers. While telephone clubs were the main venues that facilitated enjo-kōsai in Japan, the Internet facilitates meetings between young girls and clients in Taiwan. Due to this, there have been attempts by several NGOs and the Taiwanese Government to regulate Internet sites. Efforts at regulation are compounded by the fact that NGOs and the Taiwanese government sometimes apply the term enjo-kōsai to mean more than just teenage compensated dating, but also prostitution and Internet pornography sites.

South Korea

Enjo-kōsai has also found its way to South Korea, where the South Korean government considers enjo-kōsai a form of prostitution. An annual report by ECPAT International, published in 2004, asserts that 222 girls 18 and younger were arrested for participating in enjo-kōsai in the year 2000.[11] South Korea, similar to Japan, recently passed a law in 2000 protecting children from exploitation and prostitution. Yet due to the nature of enjo-kōsai, specifically the decision of the girl to participate in the act, the girls who do enjo-kōsai are not protected under the law and are subject to punishment under the law.

Hong Kong

According to social workers, girls as young as 15 advertise themselves as available for "compensated dating".[12] The practice is becoming more acceptable among Hong Kong teenage girls, who do not think compensated dating is a kind of prostitution. Some believe it is different because it does not involve sexual intercourse and they can choose their clients, who range from teenage boys to married men. Some even think they are helping others.[12] The internet allowed girls more opportunities to offer to shop, eat out or go to a movie with men in return for payment in order to fulfill their material needs. In April 2008, the brutal murder of a 16-year-old girl, Wong Ka-mui, who was taking part in compensated dating drew attention to the issue.[13]

References

1. "prostitution" Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster, Inc. 01 Oct. 2007.
2. "The Meaning of Enjo-Kousai" DawnCenter Official Web Site. 2003. Dawn Center- Osaka Women's Prefectural Center. 12 October 2007.
3. Laura Miller (2004). "Those Naughty Teenage Girls: Japanese Kogals, Slang, and Media Assessments". Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 14 (2).
4. Fukutomi Mamoru (March 1997). "An Analytical Study on the Causes of and Attitudes Toward ‘Enjo Kōsai’ among Female High School Students in Japan". Professor, Tokyo Gakugei University (Asian Women’s Fund): 75–76.
5. a b c d e Leheny, David. Think Global, Fear Local: Sex, Violence and Anxiety in Contemporary Japan. New York: Cornell University Press, 2006.
6. a b Kingston, Jeff. Japan’s Quiet Transformation: Social Change and Civil Society in the 21st Century. RoutledgeCurzon, New York: 2004.
7. White, Merry Isaacs. Perfectly Japanese: Making Families in an Era of Upheaval. University of California Press, Berkley: 2002.
8. a b Goodman, Roger. Family and Social Policy in Japan: Anthropological Approaches (Contemporary Japanese Society). Cambridge University Press. 2002.
9. Tokyo bill to outlaw sex with youths for money. New York Times; 04/04/97, Vol. 146

10. Oi-Wan Lam, “Why Did Enjo Kōsai Anchor in Taiwan But Not in Hong Kong? Or the Convergence of "Enjo" and “Kōsai" in Teenage Sex Work.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies; Aug2003, Vol. 4 Issue 2, p353, 11p
11. Yoshimi Nagamine. The Daily Yomiuri 5 May. 2004.
12. a b Nickkita Lau (October 15, 2007). "Teen girls sell sex via the internet". The Standard.
13. Carol Chung (June 30, 2008). "Teen escorts risk sex fiends". The Standard.

Child porn probe woman in custody

Plymouth - UK.- (BBC) A 39-year-old nursery worker in Plymouth arrested in connection with the distribution of indecent images of children remains in police custody. It follows a raid at the Little Ted's nursery in Laira, Plymouth, and at the woman's home in the city's Efford area. The nursery, which has about 60 children, has been closed by police while inquiries are carried out.
Police said that the arrest of a 38-year-old man from Littleborough, near Rochdale, led them to arrest the woman.

'Fast-moving investigation'

The man appeared at Trafford Magistrates' Court earlier charged with possessing and distributing indecent images. Devon and Cornwall Police said: "The charges relate to images recovered from a computer, mobile phones and other items of software." "Following the investigation, information was passed to Devon and Cornwall Police, who have arrested a 39-year-old woman."
After the woman was arrested at her home, items seized in raids included computer equipment which contained "dozens of internet images", police said.
Commanding officer Ch Supt Jim Webster said it had been a "fast-moving investigation". He said: "We received information yesterday evening about nine o'clock, took it very seriously, had it researched straightaway and by midnight last night we'd arrested a person who we believe is concerned in the distribution of child pornography images". "So our work today is to find out what's happened, where the images have come from, where they've been sent to and any risk to anybody in Plymouth."
He said the allegations raised "serious concerns" and police were contacting all parents of children at the nursery.

Letter to parents

Little Ted's opened in 1992 and operates from Laira Green Primary School and Laira United Church Hall. Children in the nursery are aged between two and five, but children up to 11 can attend the breakfast and after-school clubs.
People arriving at the nursery to drop off children on Monday morning were handed a letter by police explaining what had happened.

The letter, signed by Supt David Sumner, read: "We are informing you that police have arrested a 39-year-old woman in connection with distributing indecent images of young children and that the woman is an employee of Little Ted's Child Day Care Unit, Old Laira Road" "As part of our inquiries we have searched the home address of the woman and need to search units one and two of the unit today."
About 40 police officers are working on the case, including internet crime investigators. Children's care specialists are also involved in the operation, police said. Mother Amy Gilbert said: "It's a complete shock. I am going to change nurseries." Another mother, who did not want to be named, said: "My son's been going there since last September. I'd never imagined anything like that in anywhere like that."

Contacts

Parents affected can contact a special police helpline on 08452 777444.

Mom Loses Daughter Over 'Sexting'. The Jesse Logan's case. Cynthia Logan’s daughter was taunted about photo she sent to boyfriend

EE.UU.- (Mike Celizic - Today Show) The image was blurred and the voice distorted, but the words spoken by a young Ohio woman are haunting. She had sent nude pictures of herself to a boyfriend. When they broke up, he sent them to other high school girls. The girls were harassing her, calling her a slut and a whore. She was miserable and depressed, afraid even to go to school.
And now Jesse Logan was going on a Cincinnati television station to tell her story. Her purpose was simple: “I just want to make sure no one else will have to go through this again.”
The interview was in May 2008. Two months later, Jessica Logan hanged herself in her bedroom. She was 18.

Louis J. Levine has been arrested on a federal warrant for producing child pornography

Nashville, Tennessee - EE.UU.- (Bad teacher) Louis J. Levine, 52 years old, of Nashville, Tennessee, a science teacher who traveled among Murfreesboro City Schools and was also a substitute teacher in Nashville schools has been arrested on a federal warrant for producing child pornography. Levine’s arrest was the result of a cooperative effort between Metro Nashville Sex Crimes detectives and FBI agents.

Levine came to the attention of authorities by way of a call from a concerned parent of a minor teenage boy. The parent expressed concern about teens spending time with Levine at his home and indicated that they believed Levine purchased alcohol and marijuana for the teens and allowed them the use of a bedroom for sex.
It is alleged that Levine provided drugs to teenagers and allowed them to engage in sex in his home or on his property over the course of the past 30 years.
During the course of the investigation authorities interviewed teenagers of today and persons who were teens in the 1970s and 80s and both groups allegedly made similar allegations regarding sex and drug activity at Levine’s home.
Some of those interviewed by police told investigators of Levine videotaping sexual encounters between the teens while others have told investigators that Levine showed them what appeared to be homemade sex videos. It is further alleged that Levine had sexual contact with some of the teens.
The investigation into Levine’s alleged activities is continuing and state charges will possibly follow. Police ask that anyone with information regarding inappropriate behavior by Levine with minors is urged to contact the Metro Police Department’s Sex Crimes Unit at 862-7540.
Reportedly, Levine was placed on administrative leave from the Murfreesboro School System on April 1 after officials there learned he was under investigation. He has also reportedly been taken off the substitute teacher list for Nashville schools.
Reportedly Levine has in the past worked at the Adventure Science Center, formerly the Cumberland Science Museum, as an animal expert and teacher, as well as at several youth camps.
Levine made an initial appearance in federal court Tuesday afternoon and is scheduled for a detention hearing and a preliminary hearing on Friday.
The criminal complaint, in ‘PDF’ format, against Louis J. Levine is provided courtsey of the Nashville Police Department.

Investigators have reportedly identified even more teens who spent time at Levine’s home, some of them his own students. It is expected that more of them will be interviewed in the coming days.

The Tennessean reports:

A Metro police officer also confirmed Wednesday that Levine visited a youth camp operated by the Fraternal Order of Police with his father, Morris Levine, who gave comics to the children and sexually explicit magazines to the police officers working as camp counselors.
Reportedly, federal and state prosecutors expect to bring more charges as the investigation continues and investigators work their way through more than 400 homemade tapes seized from Levine’s padlocked bedroom.
If convicted of the charges filed thus far, Levine faces a minimum prison sentence of 15 years.

‘Sexting’ surprise: Teens face child porn charges

USA.- (MSNBC - Mike Brunker) In an unusual legal case arising from the increasingly popular practice known as “sexting,” six Pennsylvania high school students are facing child pornography charges after three teenage girls allegedly took nude or semi-nude photos of themselves and shared them with male classmates via their cell phones.
The female students at Greensburg Salem High School in Greensburg, Pa., all 14- or 15-years-old, face charges of manufacturing, disseminating or possessing child pornography while the boys, who are 16 and 17, face charges of possession, according to WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh, which published the story on its Web site on Tuesday.
Police told the station that the photos were discovered in october, after school officials seized a cell phone from a male student who was using it in violation of school rules and found a nude photo of a classmate on it. Police were called in and their investigation led them to other phones containing more photos, it said.

Police Capt. George Seranko was quoted as saying that the first photograph was “a self portrait taken of a juvenile female taking pictures of her body, nude."
The school district issued a statement Tuesday saying that the investigation turned up “no evidence of inappropriate activity on school grounds … other than the violation of the electronic devices policy.” The statement also said that school officials didn’t learn of the charges against the students until Monday.
In the WPXI story, which included contributions from the Associated Press, Saranko indicated that authorities decided to file the child pornography charges to send a strong message to other minors who might consider sending such photos to friends.
"It's very dangerous," he said. "Once it's on a cell phone, that cell phone can be put on the Internet where everyone in the world can get access to that juvenile picture. You don't realize what you are doing until it's already done." (Seranko could not be reached for comment on Thursday, and a woman who answered the phone at the Greensburg Police Department said, “Our department is not doing any more interviews on the case.”)
But Patrick Artur, a Philadelphia defense attorney who by his reckoning has handled at least 80 child pornography cases, said the prosecution of minors for photos they took themselves runs counter to the purpose of both state and federal child pornography laws: Preventing the sexual abuse of children by “dirty old men in raincoats.”
“It’s clearly overkill,” he said. “… The letter of the law seems to have been violated, but this is not the type of defendant that the legislature envisioned” in passing the statute.
Artur said that because there is no mandatory minimum sentence under Pennsylvania’s child pornography law, unlike the federal statute, the students would not necessarily be incarcerated if they are found guilty. But he noted that convictions would have "serious, serious implications," including forcing them having to register as sexual offenders for at least 10 years.
While Artur said the prosecution of a juvenile for allegedly creating and distributing child porn was new to him, a quick review of federal and state statistics showed there have been a handful of similar cases, and several convictions.
While few minors have found themselves in court for e-mailing or posting sexy photos of themselves, there is little doubt that ubiquitous cell phones and easy access to computers have tempted many to push the erotic envelope.
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reported last month that a survey of 1,280 teens and young adults found that 20 percent of the teens said they had sent or posted nude or semi nude photos or videos of themselves. That number was slightly higher for teenage girls — 22 percent — vs. boys — 18 percent.

"Sexting" Shockingly Common Among Teens

Pennsylvania - USA.- (CBS/ AP) While it may be shocking, the practice of "sexting" - sending nude pictures via text message - is not unusual, especially for high schoolers around the country. This week, three teenage girls who allegedly sent nude or semi-nude cell phone pictures of themselves, and three male classmates in a western Pennsylvania high school who received them, are charged with child pornography.

In October a Texas eighth-grader spent the night in a juvenile detention center after his football coach found a nude picture on his cell phone that a fellow student sent him.

Roughly 20 percent of teens admit to participating in "sexting," according to a nationwide survey (pdf) by the National Campaign to Support Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. "This is a serious felony. They could be facing many years in prison," CBS News legal analyst Lisa Bloom said of the six teens in Pennsylvania.

But, Bloom added, "What are we going to do, lock up 20 percent of America's teens?" Police in Greensburg, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh, say the girls are 14 or 15 and the boys charged with receiving the photos are 16 or 17. None are being identified because most criminal cases in Pennsylvania juvenile courts are not public. Police say they first learned about the pictures in October. They say a student had a phone turned on in class, a violation of school policy, which prompted an administrator to confiscate the phone and subsequently find the pictures, reports CBS station KDKA-TV.

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* The Associated Press contributed to this report.