Internet -- The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

There is no doubting that the Internet is a powerful tool. There is also no doubting that once something gets posted online it is almost impossible to retrieve. So, if what is posted is embarrassing then it is likely to remain an embarrassment for the rest of your natural life.

It is not only the Internet that is a powerful tool in this age of technology, but the increasing sophistication of mobile phones to include cameras and streaming video means that just about anyone can be a conduit for news. This sort of takes citizen journalism to a whole new level.

When the Internet and increased sophistication of technology is combined with the increasing levels of sexualization of children, then we have a scenario for real trouble. This is highlighted in a Victorian case that has now involved the FBI.

A teenage girl, and only just a teenager at 13, has taken some sexually explicit photos of herself and sent them to her 17-year old boyfriend. Now, I am not quite sure what a 17-year old wants to be going out with a 13-year old for in the first place, but he was.

The whole story might have ended there but for the intervention of another 13-year old who happened to acquire the self-portrait images of the other girl and decided to create a fake MySpace account and post the pictures there.

Now the news are reporting the girl who took the photos as the victim. However, if the photos were taken voluntarily is she still a victim. In the eyes of the law, yes. The 17-year old should have known the law and steered well clear. This might be cut and dried in terms of interpreting the prevailing provisions but it might not be so cut and dried once the full story emerges (then again maybe it will).

The complaint was made by the "victim" and the police became involved. It is unclear as to whether the complaint was about the 17-year old boyfriend or the 13-year old that created the MySpace account and posted the happy snappy self-portraits.

The 13-year old that created the fake MySpace account was cautioned, which is nothing more than a lecture and a slap on the wrist.

The boyfriend on the other hand is in a whole different world of hurt having been charged with the sexual penetration of a child under 16 and procuring child pornography.

My views are clear on kiddie porn and a quick squiz through my postings here are elsewhere highlight that. Simply, kiddie porn is not on at any time. But, how are we as a community to deal with images of minors taken by the minors themselves and then posted by those minors on the Internet?

Under Age Sex -- Honest Mistake

The High Court in Australia has handed down a decision today which essentially reinstates the "honest mistake" defence in New South Wales.

The honest mistake defence requires that the defendant prove that they honestly believed that the "victim" was of the age of consent or above at the time the offence was committed.

In essence the following must be proved:

- the defendant honestly and reasonably believed their partner was at least 16, the age of consent;

- the partner consented to sex;

- and, in any case, the partner was at least 14 years old.

The NSW Crimes Act had been silent on this point since about 2003. However, with this decision that silence has effectively been removed.

So, next time you are in NSW keep this in mind if you are not sure and decide to go ahead anyway!

Sexual Violence and Films

A story out of France appears to provide some vindication to those people that advocate there is a connection between the violence and sex that children watch and their behaviour. The argument that we should enact laws that protect our children from sex and violence has been raging for some time. Those advocating restrictions and bans are not just looking at TV and film but also violent video games that seem to glorify gratuitous violence and mayhem.

Back to France. It seems that an 11 year old boy had watched a porno flick with his 12 year old mate and his sister! After having watched this skin flick it was decided that they would try and reproduce some of the scenes. The news reports do not indicate how old the sister was. Presumably, the re-enactments were perpetrated on the sister!

In an era of modern technology, it seems that every kid has a mobile phone. What's more these pieces of equipment are sophisticated and generally include camera and video features. The two boys decided that this was worth filming and decided to film the re-enactment.

It then turns out that having filmed the events as they unfolded it would be silly not to show it at school to all 100 or so of their closest friends. This is one of those "dumb and dumber" moments as the more people you tell the more likely your story is to be uncovered. I guess you do not think about these things when you are 11 or 12.

The boys are getting psychological counselling and apparently under French law they cannot be jailed for their "re-enactment" . However, they can be sentenced apparently to some kind of community service or control order.