CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Sexting among juveniles will soon be against the law in West Virginia.
Legislation making it an act of delinquency for minors to possess, create, produce or transmit pictures of themselves or other minors posing in sexually inappropriate ways will fully take effect this summer.
“At least now we have some ammunition when this happens to go in and take action,” said Kanawha County prosecuting attorney Mark Plants said of the legislation he supported.
The Legislature approved the measure earlier this year and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed it into law this week.
It’s partly meant to address photos that may have been passed among couples and then were shared with others, in some cases, following breakups.
“Now there’s some recourse for these victims who … who agreeably used bad judgment to begin with, but after the fact we can go in and at least hold some people accountable for what they did and, hopefully, deter some of this conduct,” Plants said.
With the law, a criminal action would be filed against a juvenile and a judge in juvenile court would then decide on a punishment.
Plants was a guest on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”