OPP warn that sexting could result in criminal charges
OXFORD COUNTY - The OPP are becoming very worried with a trend among teens known as sexting.
Sexting has been around for a while now, but Norfolk OPP Constable Ed Sanchuck has a different term for it: Self-Peer exploitation.
"We're telling people porn culture is becoming pop culture. And often parents do not know their kids are involved and it can be difficult to determine. So parents are encouraged to have honest and frank discussions with their kids about what self-peer exploitation is and explain that images can end up somewhere they do not want them to be."
Constable Sanchuck says sexting is far more dangerous than many teens believe - images can be used to bully and intimidate classmates. Intentionally creating and distributing images of anyone under the age of 18 could be classified as Child Pornography and young people could very quickly find themselves facing criminal charges.
He cautions that often an image is sent during a relationship, but then one messy breakup and that image could end up almost anywhere. Sexually explicit content can easily end up in the wrong hands, and then be used to harass the victim. Constable Sanchuck says it's important to reach out, and he suggests one service in particular: "Canadian Centre of Child Protection - which is an national charitable organization dedicated to the personal safety of children with a goal to reduce child victimization. They're a great resource with many links and information that is helpful to parents, educators, and teens themselves. The Centre also has a tip line to report online sexual exploitation called CyberTip.ca. And CyberTip.ca is developing and disseminating an effective intervention and prevention strategy to reach a variety of stakeholders."
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