Law enforcement backs bill diverting teen sexting cases

Gov. Charlie Baker’s bill to divert teen sexting cases to an educational program instead of hitting kids with felony charges got the backing of law enforcement officials in a State House hearing yesterday.

Baker’s bill, aired yesterday before the Judiciary Committee, routes juvenile sexting cases toward an educational diversion program, rather than the felony child pornography charges now on the books.

The same measure closes a legal gap regarding revenge porn — sexually explicit images presumably shared consensually between two people that later are distributed widely without the subject’s consent — by criminalizing the act and empowering judges to keep people from sharing the images.

Under Baker’s measure, people maliciously passing on sexual images could face up to 5 years in state prison and a $10,000 fine.

Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan said the changes are needed so that the law no longer treats juvenile sexting the same as adult distribution of child pornography. The law presumes a juvenile accused of sexting can enter an education program, but it lets prosecutors decide if juvenile court is warranted.

Sullivan predicted the majority of youthful cases could be handled with educational programs.

“Children won’t be part of (the) criminal justice system early on. They won’t have that blemish on their record,” Sullivan said. “We want children to learn from their mistakes and to move on in a sensible way and to put that behind them, and to make sure the victim — that could be a girl or a boy — that they know somebody has been held accountable.”

Woburn police Chief Robert Ferullo said, “Currently our options are too limited to effectively deal with it. Situations arise from time to time when it becomes imperative to act in the best interest of the child involved.”