“These laws were really intended to prevent sexual abuse of children, to protect against the exploitation of children,” Shah said. Riya Saha Shah, the senior managing director of the Juvenile Law Center, said the center was part of that advocacy and has continued to raise concerns about sexual exploitation laws being used against child victims. In the early 2000s, as cellphone cameras became common and “sexting” entered the national vernacular, juvenile justice advocates began fighting against prosecutors who wanted to charge minors for consensually sharing explicit images with other minors. “Our culture assigns complicity to girls who are too young to legally even consent to sex.”Įpstein said minors who are trafficked or coerced into sexual acts or into creating or soliciting sexual materials can often be charged with crimes. Rather than being treated as survivors who need support, they are funneled into the criminal justice system,” she said. “Girls who experience sexual abuse are often the ones who are punished for the sexual abuse that they experience. Epstein co-authored a report in April looking at how survivors of sexual assault and abuse are often criminalized. Rebecca Epstein, the executive director of the Center on Gender Justice and Opportunity at Georgetown Law, said charges against victims are common. The AP filed a written request with the Franklin County prosecuting attorney’s office seeking information on whether minors have been charged under the statute, but had not received a response as of Thursday afternoon. He said prosecutors ultimately decide when to file charges, but he did not answer when asked whether Columbus police had arrested minors under similar circumstances in the past. But Antequera said Ohio statutes are clear that minors who create, possess or distribute images of child sexual abuse, even of themselves, are violating the law.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |