According to the Brownsville Herald, the girl initially agreed to send the boy a topless photo of herself. But he then threatened to forward the photo to his friend if she didn’t send him a subsequent fully nude image.

These cases are considered surprisingly common, though they often don’t make news and may be dealt with in juvenile court.  But as we’ve noted before, Texas law has no provision for lesser charges, and is known to be tough on these offenses. Felony sex offenses in Texas are very serious crimes.

Since this case appears to involve coercions, it goes beyond an innocent but dumb sexting charge. If the girl had willingly send the photos, and not been threatened, you could make a case that felony sex offense charges would be completely inappropriate.

More typical sexting offenses involve willing parties, giving in to adolescent impulses and exploring sexuality.

In any case, it will be interesting to see how this case resolves, and if it raises the issue of future sexting laws reform in Texas.

Via the Texas Tribune, Abbott suggests jail time is a serious risk of prosecution for a  felony offense of child pornography charges, even among consenting teens. Possession of explicit, nude or semi-nude pictures of your teen girlfriend is a huge risk.

If you are convicted of a sex offense in Texas, you will also face the prospect of ending up in a federal registry as a sex offender.

While sexting is not behavior that should be encouraged, most people can understand the difference between teenagers acting stupidly and adults exchanging underage pornography. Yet the law as written in Texas makes no such distinction.

One would hope that reasonable prosecutors would use discretion in these matters, but until the laws are reformed to reflect the reality that virtually every teen in America has 1) raging hormones, and 2) a cell phone with a camera, these kinds of cases can result in very serious criminal charges and life changing penalties.

Sexting was a finalist for word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary. It is officially defined as “sending of sexually explicit texts and pictures by cellphone”.

News channel 10 in Amarillo recently did a report on sexting, and the dangers posed to teens. Those dangers can include serious legal consequences up to and including felony sex offenses for sending sexually explicit photos to a minor, even if you are a minor yourself.

It is easy to argue that this kind of activity between consenting persons, even if they are minors, shouldn’t evoke the same kind of penalties designed for sexual predators. But those laws are still on the books. And even a conviction on a lesser sex offense can lead to lifetime registration requirements as a convicted sex offender.

These dangers probably don’t seem obvious to most teens, who think they are engaging in harmless fun, but they are all too real.