“Sexting” by minors could become an ordinance violation in Dunn County
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Anyone under the age of 18 who uses an electronic device to send a photograph or video depicting nudity could soon be charged with an ordinance violation in Dunn County.
A proposed ordinance prohibiting minor “sexting” would give law enforcement and the district attorney options for dealing with minors who send inappropriate photographs or videos of themselves, said James Tripp, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the Judiciary and Law Committee, at the Dunn County Board’s May 19 meeting.
The proposed ordinance would not change any state or federal laws related to pornography, he said.
Tripp said he first saw the proposed ordinance on his grandson’s 13th birthday.
Thirteen-year-olds can and will sometimes “do any stupid thing” that comes along, he said.
The ordinance means that someone like his grandson could be appropriately reprimanded for sexting without it becoming a state or federal offense, Tripp said.
The widespread use of Smartphones has given high school kids more ways to do “stupid things,” such as sending sexual pictures of themselves to attract someone as a romantic interest, said Dunn County Sheriff Kevin Bygd.
When those pictures are sent out, 14 and 15 year-old-boys cannot seem to keep the images to themselves, he said.
When teenagers are sharing inappropriate photographs, some of those photographs could result in felony charges, such as an image that would be determined to be child pornography, Sheriff Bygd said.
An ordinance violation would be a way to “nip it in the bud” before it becomes a felony offense, he said, noting that possession of child pornography can result in jail or prison time.
The proposed ordinance is a way to punish the minors who are sexting but it would not create a criminal record, Sheriff Bygd said.
According to the proposed ordinance, a minor commits the offense of sexting by knowingly using any device capable of electronic data transmission to transmit to or distribute to another minor any photograph, image or digital representation, or video of any person which depicts nudity and is harmful to minors or by possessing a photograph or video of any person that was transmitted or distributed by another which depicts nudity and is harmful to minors.
A minor does not violate the ordinance if all of the following apply: the minor did not solicit the photograph or video; the minor took reasonable steps to report the photograph or video to a school or law enforcement official; and the minor did not transmit or distribute the photographs or video to a third party other than a school or law enforcement official.
Any person who violates any provisions of the proposed ordinance would be subject to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500, together with the applicable costs.
The ordinance prohibiting minors from sexting came before the Dunn County Board May 19 as a first reading.
The proposed ordinance will be on the county board’s agenda again in June for a second reading and consideration for approval.
