ACLU: Police are ‘overenthusiastic’ in charging teens with social media crimes
The charges involve kids posting and asking for nude pictures.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island thinks the Barrington Police Department is being too tough on teens who use social media improperly, reports the Providence Journal.
“[T]here clearly appears to be a disturbing pattern of overenthusiastic police enforcement of social media ‘crimes,’’’ Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island ACLU, told the Journal.
The ACLU pointed to three recent cases when the Barrington Police Department criminally charged minors: A 12-year-old boy arrested for “sexting’’ after allegedly sending nude pictures of himself to a 12-year-old girl, a 17-year-old boy charged with “electronically disseminating indecent material to minors’’ after allegedly posting an obscene video clip of a teenage girl, and a 15-year-old boy charged with cyberstalking after allegedly sending Instagram messages to several girls, asking for nude pictures.
According to the Journal, Barringon Police Chief John M. LaCross’s response, in a statement, was:
Of the three juvenile cases involving the transfer, posting of naked photos or requesting naked photos, not one juvenile was placed under arrest in handcuffs or brought into physical custody back to the police station. After discussing the situation with their parents, all parents agreed to present their child before the Juvenile Hearing Board, a non adversarial body where restorative justice discussion is involved.
Read the full story in the Journal.
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