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Is taking naked pictures of yourself a crime? If you’re a minor, some judges say yes. Cyber-crime specialist Mark Rasch explains how the combination of teenagers and technology creates a challenge for current child pornography laws.
Bodies of Evidence
If a minor viewed himself or herself in front of the bathroom mirror nude would they be guilty of viewing child pornography ?
Our laws with respect to this are a mishmash. It is illegal to take, posess, distribute or sell a sexually suggestive nude photograph of anyone under the age of eighteen. On the other hand, the average age of consent in the United States, which implies nudity and sex, is 16. Furthermore, some states (albeit with parental and, sometimes, judicial permission required) allow marriage even under the age of consent. At least one state makes it possible for a 14 year old boy to be married to a 13 year old girl. This means that someone could be arrested, imprisoned and branded a sex offender for life for posessing an intimate photo of one's own spouse or legal sex partner.
Our laws allow for the dispatching of the thought police and an uneven dispensation of justice, as one with so illustrious a name as Orwell's given one would know.
The mirror would constitute a live illegal performance, though perhaps "pornographic" it doesn't seem to actually be pornography.
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