Senate Bill 407
Filed: Jan. 25, 2011
Author: Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin
To combat the allegedly growing problem of “sexting” – sending sexually explicit photos via text messages – Austin Sen. Kirk Watson has filed, with support of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a bill that would codify sexting by children as a distinct crime and create an education program to help curb the conduct. The sponsors claim the law would help “parents address the issue” while providing prosecutors an “additional and more effective set of tools” for addressing it, Watson said during a Monday press conference at the AG’s office. Sexting is currently prosecutable only under state felony child porn laws, which carry the potential for prison time and lifetime sex offender registration. Abbott said he isn’t aware of any such prosecutions, however, and Watson said he suspects prosecutors are simply declining to pursue them because the potential penalties are so great. Abbott pointed to estimates from a 2008 national report that 22% of all teen girls take and text sexually suggestive photos of themselves. (Notably, both officials mentioned examples only of girls, rather than boys, engaging in sexting – perhaps to get boys to like them, Watson said at one point.) Without any prosecutions, it’s unclear whether there is real need for the legislation; it would not prevent prosecutors from using existing child porn laws to prosecute the case of a “budding pedophile,” Watson said. Under the new law, sexting would be punishable as a fine-only class C misdemeanor for first-timers; third-time offenders would face a class A misdemeanor conviction with as much as a year in jail. Judges could also require that teens and their parents attend anti-sexting classes. Meanwhile, sext recipients could also face jail time unless they report the crime to law enforcement within 48 hours.
This article appears in February 11 • 2011.