Police: Trio posted nude photos of Prince William students on Instagram
http://www.insidenova.com/news/crime_police/police-trio-posted-nude-photos-of-prince-william-students-on/article_3a666146-a622-11e3-bc2d-0019bb2963f4.html
Three teenagers have been charged with computer harassment after police say they posted more than 50 nude photos of Prince William County middle and high school students on Instagram.
The police department’s Special Victims Unit launched an investigation Feb. 17, after learning of several Instagram accounts that “exploited other female juveniles from multiple schools within the Prince William County public school system,” police said in a news release.
A 15-year-old girl who attends Hylton High School, a 13-year-old boy who attends Stonewall Middle School and a 14-year-old boy who is part of the county's computer-based school program, solicited nude photographs among other teens and then posted them on the Instagram accounts, said Prince William police spokesman Jonathan Perok.
The victims in the photos didn't know that their friends were sending them to the trio and didn't know they were being spread on the Internet, he said.
Perok said the suspects did not use county school resources to post the photos, and that none of the images were taken within the schools or on school property.
According to the FBI, a 2010 study found that 20 percent of teenagers (22 percent of girls and 18 percent of boys) sent naked or seminude images of themselves or posted them online.
“Another survey indicated that nearly one in six teens between the ages of 12 and 17 who own cell phones have received naked or nearly nude pictures via text message from someone they know,” the FBI wrote in a bulletin on “sexting.”
"Once these photos, or any photo for that matter, are taken and sent, the sender immediately loses both possession of and control over where that picture goes," Perok said. "It’s important to reiterate that to younger audiences."
Prince William schools spokesman Phil Kavits said the school system works with students and parents to promote online safety.
"Parental supervision of their child's online behavior and constant reenforcement of careful online use are extremely helpful in avoiding or exposing the negative impact of the kind of harassing behavior alleged to have occurred," he said.