Lorang Melissa R, McNiel Dale E, Binder Renée L
Dr. Lorang is in private practice as a child and adolescent psychiatrist, San Diego, CA. Dr. McNeil is Professor of Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, and Dr. Binder is Professor of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2016 Mar;44(1):73-81.
Sexting is the sending or forwarding of sexually explicit photographs or videos of the sender or someone known to the sender via cell phone. It has become common practice among young people, as cell phones are being given to adolescents at ever younger ages. Youths often send messages without giving appropriate thought to the content of the images. In studies on the subject, rates of minors who have sent sexual images range from 4 to 25 percent, depending on the age of the youths surveyed, the content of the messages and other factors. Because transferring and viewing sexually explicit material when the subject is a minor can be considered child pornography, there can be serious legal consequences. Several states have enacted legislation to help differentiate between child pornography and sexting by minors. The trend reflected in statutes has been that minors involved in sexting without other exacerbating circumstances should be charged with a less serious offense. There is no clear national consensus on how sexting by minors is adjudicated, and therefore we compared several statutes. Case examples are used to illustrate the range of legal outcomes, from felony charges to no charges. Two sexting episodes that were followed by suicide are described. We also address the role of the forensic mental health professional.
性短信是指通过手机发送或转发发送者本人或其认识的人的露骨色情照片或视频。随着手机在青少年中发放的年龄越来越小，这在年轻人中已成为一种普遍现象。年轻人发送此类信息时往往不会对图片内容进行适当考虑。在关于该主题的研究中，发送过性图片的未成年人比例在4%至25%之间，这取决于所调查青少年的年龄、信息内容及其他因素。由于当对象为未成年人时传输和观看露骨色情材料可被视为儿童色情制品，因此可能会产生严重的法律后果。有几个州已颁布立法，以帮助区分儿童色情制品和未成年人发送性短信的行为。法规中体现的趋势是，在没有其他加重情节的情况下，参与性短信行为的未成年人应被控以较轻罪行。对于如何裁决未成年人发送性短信的行为，目前尚无明确的全国性共识，因此我们比较了几部法规。文中使用案例来说明从重罪指控到不起诉的一系列法律结果。还描述了两起随后发生自杀事件的性短信案例。我们也探讨了法医精神健康专业人员的作用。
