Sheriff’s Dept Investigates Teen ‘Sexting’

Dakota High Students At Center Of Investigation

MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The Macomb County Sheriff’s Department is investigating sexual text messages exchanged between four Dakota High School students.

Sexual text messaging, often referred to as “sexting,” involves sending sexually explicit messages or pictures.

Authorities warn there are harsh legal ramifications if photographs of a minor are texted.

The Macomb County Sheriff’s Department Youth Bureau is handling the case, which centers on three boys and one girl ages 16 to 18.

Sheriff’s deputies said it appears the four were sending sexually explicit photos among themselves.

Cheryl Carpenter is an attorney familiar with sexting cases.

“If a girl takes a naked picture of herself and she is 17 or younger, she can be charged with manufacturing child pornography. That’s a 20 year felony plus lifetime registry on the sex offenders list,” Carpenter said.

Sources told Local 4 that the Chippewa Valley School District said the sexting incidents did not happen on school grounds.

This is not the first time local law enforcement has investigated sexting.

Nineteen students at Pinckney High School were investigated after a sexting scandal spread there.

Police and prosecutors in Pinckney said they are satisfied with the way the school district and parents handled the issue.

No charges were filed in that case.

“Sheriff’s Dept Investigates Teen ‘Sexting’ – Detroit Local News Story – WDIV Detroit.” Click On Detroit | Detroit News, Detroit, Michigan News, Weather, Sports Online | WDIV Local 4. Web. 22 Sept. 2010.

Cyber-bullying causes more depression, study finds

The study found that cyber-bullying may be even harder on victims than physical beatings or name-calling.

Washington – Cyber-bullying may be even harder on the victims than physical beatings or name-calling, US researchers reported on Tuesday.

And unlike traditional bullies, cyber-bullies seem to be less depressed than their prey, the team at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found.

Jing Wang, Tonja Nansel and Ronald Iannotti of the NIH’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development analysed data from an international survey from 2005 to 2006 that included 4 500 US pre-teens and teens.

They were asked specifically about feelings of depression, irritability, grouchiness and ability to concentrate, and also asked specifically if they had been hit, called names, shunned or sent negative messages via computer or cell phone – or done any of these things to other people.

“Unlike traditional bullying which usually involves a face-to-face confrontation, cyber victims may not see or identify their harasser,” Iannotti’s team wrote in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

“As such, cyber victims may be more likely to feel isolated, dehumanised or helpless at the time of the attack.”

Depression

Physical and verbal bullies are often depressed themselves.

But while there was little difference in depression between physical bullies and their targets, the NIH team found that cyber-bully victims reported significantly higher levels of depression than frequent bullies.

Bullying can be a policy issue – it harms learning and can lower a school’s test scores.

US schools are increasingly under pressure to bring up scores and to show regular improvements.

In 2009, the same team found that more than 20% of all US adolescents in school had been bullied physically at least once in the last two months, 53% were bullied verbally, 51% bullied socially by being excluded or ostracised and 13.6% were bullied electronically.

ReutersTue, By. “Cyber-bullying Causes More Depression, Study Finds | MNN – Mother Nature Network.” Environmental News and Information | MNN – Mother Nature Network. Web. 22 Sept. 2010.

$400,000 aimed for middle school program targeting Internet safety

SANTA ANA – On one computer at Gerald P. Carr Intermediate in Santa Ana, eighth-grader Bobby Hernandez worked on a simulation dealing with how a child predator tries to convince a teen to travel to Canada for a meeting.

At the next computer station, eighth-grader Kimberly Torres and seventh-grader Danyal Aguilar followed another simulation where a teenage girl is tricked into sending photos of herself to a predator pretending he’s a modeling agent.

“This really shows how many bad people there are out there trying to get to kids,” Hernandez said. “You really have to be careful when you’re on the Internet, or else you don’t know who you’ll find.”

The students were demonstrating Friday a computer program aimed at teaching adolescents about the dangers of navigating through the Internet.
The demonstration was part of a news conference announcing a $400,000 federal grant to create the countywide Youth Internet Safety Education Project. The funding will help train teachers and other educators at each of the county’s 86 public middle schools how to implement the Web-based computer program in an effort to keep children safe while on the computer both at school and at home.

About 87,000 middle school students each year will participate in the program, officials said.

“Ninety-three percent of our children ages 12 to 17 are now online; some for up to seven hours a day,” said Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana. Sanchez along with Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, were credited with securing the federal grant.

“What we’re doing today is ensuring teachers have the help they need to police what’s happening on the Internet,” she said. “The Internet is opening the world up to our children. But the bad guys are out there too.”
Santa Ana-based Web Wise Kids, creator of the online computer program, will partner with the Orange County Department of Education to train teachers and supply learning materials to students.

Students learn primarily through role-playing online games. Students follow simulations from everything dealing with how sexual predators can use social networking sites to lure children, to the dangers of “sexting,” the practice of adolescents sending inappropriate photos of themselves to friends or strangers via cell phone cameras.
The ultimate goal is for Orange County students to will learn about becoming responsible digital citizens and avoiding dangerous, inappropriate, or unlawful online behavior.
“The future of education will be based in technology,” said county Superintendent William Habermehl. “Our parents want us to teach our children about the safety of this technology at the same time we’re teaching them how to use it.”
Classmates Torres, Aguilar and Hernandez said they’ve each already learned helpful tips for safely surfing the Web.

“You should never talk to any strangers online,” said Torres, 13, who now wants to wait a couple more years before she creates her first Facebook account. “I think I’d rather just spend my free time reading a good book for now.”

Leal, By Fermin. “$400,000 Aimed for Middle School Program Targeting Internet Safety | Students, Internet, Computer – News – The Orange County Register.” The Orange County Register : The Orange County Register. Web. 20 Sept. 2010.

‘Sexting’ Wisconsin DA goes on medical leave

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin prosecutor caught sending racy text messages to a domestic abuse victim went on medical leave Monday and hired an attorney who argues the matter should not cost him his job.

The announcement that Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz is on indefinite medical leave comes after he announced Friday he would get therapy but take time off only as the court calendar would allow. He did not specify why he was on medical leave.

Kratz acknowledged last week he sent 30 text messages in three days trying to start an affair with a domestic abuse victim half his age while he was prosecuting her ex-boyfriend. In them, he asked whether she was “the kind of girl that likes secret contact with an older married elected DA” and called her a “tall, young, hot nymph.”

Kratz, who has been in his position since 1992, has rejected calls from state lawmakers, a coalition of advocates for crime victims, his peers and state newspapers to resign from his $105,000 per-year job. He is not up for re-election until November 2012.

Attorney Robert J. Craanen told The Associated Press Monday he was hired to defend Kratz from any attempts to remove him from office. Craanen said he would argue that other district attorneys have committed more serious misconduct related to withholding evidence and kept their jobs.

Gov. Jim Doyle planned to meet with Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen on Monday afternoon to discuss Kratz, a Van Hollen spokesman said. Doyle said last week he was considering all options against Kratz, including removing him from office for cause.

If Doyle takes that step, Craanen said Kratz would have the option of contesting the decision in a hearing.

“This is just a really inappropriately bad mistake by this DA after many years of commitment to the community,” Craanen said. “This could potentially wreck his career. It’s got nothing to do with evidence, with misdoing – he was never charged with anything … He’s the first to admit this was quite a mistake, but it shouldn’t really define his career. And he’s been a great DA.”

State Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer of Manitowoc joined the calls for Kratz’s resignation Monday.

“Kratz has made serious mistakes which permanently undermine his credibility and impair his ability to properly carry out his duties,” he said in a statement.

Kratz’s absence leaves only one prosecutor in his office, Jeffrey Froehlich, and several pending cases that Kratz was prosecuting. For instance, Kratz said last week he would handle a sexual assault trial set to begin Wednesday and other important cases he couldn’t reassign.

In the statement Monday, Kratz said he believed the court would “make reasonable calendar adjustments consistent with the office staffing level.”

Craanen would not comment on Kratz’s medical condition or estimate how long he would be on leave. Last week, Kratz said he would get individual psychotherapy treatment for “this issue,” but would not elaborate.

FOLEY, RYAN J. “‘Sexting’ Wisconsin DA Goes on Medical Leave – Forbes.com.” Forbes.com – Business News, Financial News, Stock Market Analysis, Technology & Global Headline News. Web. 20 Sept. 2010.

Pastor arrested for sexting underage boy

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A Brunswick pastor was arrested on charges that he sending lewd and sexual text messages to a 16 year-old boy.

Elijah Roberts Jr., was arrested last week by the Richmond Hill police department. According to investigators, he was sexting a teen and was expecting to meet the boy when police intercepted him.

A search warrant was issued for Robert’s residence in Brunswick where a computer was seized for forensic analysis. Roberts was charged with numerous charges that include sodomy, interference with custody, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, possession of tools for the commission of a crime and reckless conduct.

Richmond Hill police are working with other agencies to identify any other victims that Roberts may have had contact with since he is said to be an associate minister at a Brunswick church and may have had contact with other minors. Police have notified the church of Roberts arrest.

Anyone with additional information about Roberts or possible victims should contact Lt. Dana Strickland at 912-756-2693 or their local law enforcement agency. This is an ongoing investigation and additional information may be released in the future.

“Pastor Arrested for Sexting Underage Boy – FOX30Jax.com – WAWS FOX30.” Home – FOX30Jax.com – WAWS FOX30. Web. 16 Sept. 2010.