A 50-year-old man seduced a 15-year-old city girl, after which police found him with a pornographic picture of her in his cell phone.
In Westport, a 15-year-old girl was arrested after she allegedly photographed another girl changing her clothes and sent it out to two other friends.
In Sherman, a father received naked pictures of his daughter by her ex-boyfriend, following the couple’s break-up.
Elsewhere in the country, a recent high-school graduate killed herself after enduring months of harassment for sending a compromising photo of herself that she had sent over her cell phone.
The outcomes are just a few possible results of “sexting,” or sending nude or seminude pictures or text by cell phone, according to a panel of state and local police, a state prosecutor, valley school officials and legislators gathered Wednesday night at Shelton Intermediate School.
About a dozen people, including three teenagers, attended.The images can also find their ways to the Internet, where college officials or future employers may access them.
“Once that picture gets out on the Internet, it will never ever come back,” said state police Sgt. James Smith, supervisor of the investigative portion of the Computer Crime and Electronic Evidence Unit and commander of the State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
He said he warns students all the time of the dangers of sending compromising material.
In addition to the emotional cost of sexting, it could get the sender and receiver in trouble, however innocently intentioned.
Possession of more than three pornographic pictures of juveniles carries a mandatory minimum sentence of a year in prison, and as long as five years for possession of 50 or more pictures.
All the charges are felonies, serious crimes that while not necessarily violent carry at least a year in prison.
Sisters Jessica Mehaylo, 15, and Lindsay Mehaylo, 16, both Shelton High School students, said they were aware of the dangers of sending photos but said the results cited by the panel were unusual.
Jessica Mehaylo said she had never heard the term “sexting,” adding that she is careful whom she texts and befriends on social networking sites like Facebook.
Lindsay Mehaylo said she can tell a phony trying to befriend her. “It’s really easy to know if somebody’s faking,” she said.
The teens attended with their mother, Linda Mehaylo, and grandmother.
“For the most part, I do trust them. I don’t believe they’ve gotten themselves into real trouble,” their mother said. But she added she could watch their computer activities more closely.
Maria McPadden of Ansonia, who came with her son, left the meeting enlightened.
“I didn’t know about the sexting,” she said. “It’s really important that more communities get together and do this type of thing. It’s important that parents stay on top of this thing.”
Another meeting, involving state legislators from Naugatuck, is scheduled for Oct. 21 in Naugatuck, said Michael Rell, outreach/research director for the state House Republican Office. He hopes to set up other meetings around the state.
