Sexting teenagers taking erotic selfies should not be branded sex offenders, campaigners say

If a teenager is found to have shared an indecent image they can be arrested, charged, and if found guilty, must register as sex offenders, police have warned

Sexting teens should not be branded sex offenders, say campaigners (AFP/ Getty Images )

Teenagers who take erotic selfies and share them consensually with partners or friends are being unfairly branded as sex offenders, campaigners have said.

Myles Jackman, a lawyer who specialises in obscenity law, said the law is not clear enough for young people to be aware that, if they are over 16 and therefore over the age of consent, they cannot take “erotic selfies” and share them until they reach the age of representation, which is 18.

At present, anyone under the age of 18 who takes and distributes a naked picture of themselves can be found guilty of committing an offence under child sex laws.

Jackman, who is a legal adviser to anti-censorship campaign group Backlash, said the disparity between the age of consent and the age of representation, which is when a person can legally record or view a sexual act, told the Guardian,, “seems counter intuitive and dangerously against sex education”.

Police began to warn teenagers of the risks of sexting last year, stating the possibility that sending erotic images of themselves could result in their name being added to the sex offenders register.

At the time, Nottinghamshire police cited the example of a teenage girl under the age of 18 who sent a topless picture of herself to her boyfriend, and was then investigated for distributing and indecent image of a child. The girl’s boyfriend then received a caution for sending the message to his friends after the couple split up.

“If a person is aged over 10 years and distributes (shares - even to friends) an indecent image then they can be arrested, charged and dealt with for this offence. If they are found guilty they must then register as a sex offender,” Detective Inspector Martin Hillier said at the time.

But Backlash said that when authorities find these images, they “become subject to laws originally aimed at stopping child abuse, even though no abuse has taken place”.

A spokesperson for Backlash added: “These prosecutions cause immense mental distress, and disruption to education. A prosecution, regardless of sentencing outcome, severely harms the future life prospects of young people.”