NEW HANOVER COUNTY — An assistant district attorney pressed upon the New Hanover County Board of Education Tuesday problems she’s seeing with minors taking and sharing nude photos amongst themselves.
READ MORE: Brunswick County Schools is looking to beef up cellphone policy
ALSO: Parents cite safety concerns with Brunswick Schools pilot cellphone program
Ashton Herring, New Hanover County assistant DA overseeing juvenile court, told the board three cases, considered child pornography, have come to light in the last six months. Many teens she’s set to prosecute don’t know that possessing and distributing nude photos of another minor, even if the photograph is of oneself or sent consensually, is a felony offense.
Herring outlined the three different felonies teens could face regarding nude photos. The harshest, a Class C felony, would be recording, photographing or duplicating material of a minor engaging in sexual activity for sale or monetary gain. Herring said kids are rarely charged with this.
They are often charged with a Class E or H felony; the former is recording, photographing, duplicating, sharing, receiving or exhibiting this material, while the latter refers to the possession of it.
“Most kids are getting in trouble, or this is being brought to people’s attention, because it’s being distributed — so sent to someone else or posted online,” Herring said.
She explained the cycle: A girl shares a photo with her boyfriend or another female. and when that relationship sours, the nude photos end up in a group chat and then shared online, by individual users or even “exposure accounts.” Though in recent years, Herring has seen more cases where the photos or recordings were taken as a joke, often by extending phones over bathroom stalls.
The photos are distributed or discovered while students are still at school normally, in possession of their cellphones, Herring said.
“Law enforcement [sees] it on Instagram or Snapchat, or a student [tells] a teacher or law enforcement officer in the school about a Snapchat or a group chat where these images have arisen,” Herring told the board.
Herring’s presentation prompted the school board to discuss the use of cellphone bags at their regular meeting on Aug. 6. Teachers have also requested stricter measures as part of the district’s recent climate survey, citing problems with student attention.
It is not the only school board to do so. In May, Brunswick County Schools explored the purchase of bags, albeit to abate classroom distractions, from the company Yondr. Used at entertainment venues, its magnetic pouches are now being deployed in school districts across the U.S. Students store their phones at the start of the day to be unlocked at day’s end at free-standing bases located either outside or inside buildings, such as exits or stairway entries.
While not specifically referencing cellphone pouches, Herring said the DA’s office, which has coordinated several education programs on the legal dangers of nude photos, supports actions to curtail student use of phones while at school.
Aside from the increase in cases, recent changes to state law necessitate greater awareness on the issue.
Starting Dec. 1, 16- and 17-year-olds who commit felonies in Class A through Class E will automatically be charged as an adult. Under the current law, prosecutors can petition to keep these cases in juvenile court.
The measure was passed over the governor’s veto in House Bill 834 this year. It effectively reverses the “Raise the Age” legislation, passed by North Carolina in 2019, that kept many 16- and 17-year-olds out of adult court by removing the assumption they would be tried there. Instead of prosecutors petitioning to move the case to Superior Court, the new law will require the reverse.
The law’s proponents claimed the changes will forgo the arduous process of transferring cases from juvenile court caseloads ultimately will end up in adult Superior Court.
This means minors, 16 or 17, would have their names and details of the case available to the public and expungements will be more difficult to obtain. In addition, juvenile judges can hand down more lenient punishments, such as rehabilitation or therapy, while adults are often made to repay their debt to society via community service, probation or jail time.
“So once a kid has been charged as an adult and exposed to the adult system, that’s one, already damaging, and two, that public information is already out there,” Herring said. “Hopefully, we can get it expunged from the record, so that when someone, for example, colleges or scholarship committees or employers are on that criminal record, it won’t show up. But if it’s not expunged, then it will show up.”
Herring said if the defendant is “lucky enough” to remain in juvenile court, they’ll get placed 12 months of supervised probation, undergo a sex offender specific evaluation, and then receive sex offender-specific treatment based off of that evaluation. The minor could be placed in a treatment facility, where they could get 100 hours of community service, no unsupervised access to the internet, no unsupervised access to a cell phone.
Minors may be required to register as a sex offender; this is mandatory for sexual exploitation of a minor when convicted in superior court.
Though a serious offense, most children engaging in this activity are not charged.
“I tell law enforcement, if this is their first offense and it hasn’t reached a wide variety of people, give them that talking to and say this is illegal, inform them it’s illegal and then it’s a felony, confiscate their cell phone, completely wipe their cell phone, and tell them not to do it again. Yet, that hasn’t really been effective recently.”
Herring said with more education on the consequences, not just for students but parents as well, she thinks many charges will be prevented.
While Chief Academic Officer Patrice Faison said this topic is discussed as part of its health courses, the school district and Herring’s team both agreed to explore ways to further educational outreach moving forward.
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com
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