Sex offender granted request for nude pics in sexting case
The request was filed under the Freedom of Information Act, typically used by reporters and lawyers to get documents. By law, the sex offender is entitled to the case file because it’s public information.
The photos are of a 14-year-old Michigan girl who was investigated by police after she sent the images to the cell phones of friends. The X-rated material, which may violate child porn laws, catapulted the teen to notoriety as the pictures circulated among more than 200 people this fall.
The sex offender who made the federal request is in prison in New York and asked for copies of the cell phone photos and a police report on the case, the Daily Press and Argus reported. Prosecutor David Morse said Monday that he will comply with the request, although parts of the report, such as personal info, will be redacted.
The unexpected request illustrates one of the dangers of teen “sexting.” Police warn that child sex predators are trolling for such photos of minors.
Morse also announced Monday that he would not file charges against the girl or any of the students at Pinckney Community High School who possessed or sent the nude photos. He said the discipline doled out by the school and parents was sufficient. School officials suspended 19 students. The girl told police she was “clowning around” when she took the sexually explicit photos and two videos, which clearly show her face and vaginal area.
Morse said he is making the same decision in a sexting case at nearby Fowlerville Junior High School, where a 14-year-old girl transmitted a photo of her naked breasts to friends, who then distributed it widely. Those photos have not yet been formally requested by sex offenders. Click here for more postings about sexting, a trend embraced by an estimated one in five teens.
