The Salt Lake Tribune
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Utah on the cutting edge
A fad, some would say an epidemic, of teens sending nude photos via cell phones is spreading throughout the nation. Utah has the dubious honor of being in the avant garde of this phenomenon.

A 16-year-old Utahn was charged with a felony for sending nake cell-phone photos of himself to several girls. This high-tech "playing doctor" is getting out of hand, officials say, with the photos turning up on MySpace pages. In Syracuse, N.Y., teenage girls sent naked pictures to their boyfriends, only to find out that the the photos were being sold on a DVD.

This X-rated sharing fad is complicating the work of exploited children investigators because the victims are also the perpetrators.

Catherine Davis, a PTA leader in Westport, Conn., says:
It used to be that kids would make mistakes, and it was local and singular and everyone knew it was part of growing up. Now a stupid adolescent mistake can take on major implications and go on their record for the rest of their lives.
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