A 14-year-old boy has been put on the police intelligence database after he sent a naked picture of himself to a girl who then shared it among their schoolmates.
The teenager, who is from the north of England, is said to have been ‘flirting’ with a girl of the same age when he sent the explicit image from his bedroom through messaging application Snapchat.
He was not charged but has been warned that the offence was added to his file on the police national database, which remains active for a minimum of 10 years.
It means potential employers conducting an advanced Criminal Records Bureau check could be told about the offence which was brought to the attention of the school’s police officer.
The incident, deemed an example of ‘sexting’, has been recorded as a crime of making and distributing an indecent image, the boy’s mother told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
She said she was called by the school-based police officer and told briefly what had happened before sitting down with her son and his father, whose house he had been staying at.
“He was in his bedroom at his dad’s the night before and he was flirting with the girl and he sent a picture of himself by something called Snapchat,” she said.
The application allows users to take a picture or video, add a caption or doodle and send it to a ‘friend’, which they can view for up to 10 seconds before it disappears.
However, there is an option to save the image, but the sender is notified this has been done.
The mother explained that her son, who has not been identified, had been taken out of class and questioned by the assistant head teacher, alongside the police officer. Two other children were also involved.
When his mother later spoke to the police officer, it became clear that although her son hadn’t been charged or arrested, there were possible longer term consequences.
He said that the incident was not rare in his school and that it’s something that he noticed happening ‘quite frequently’ around him.
“You know, you hear from a few people who have done it every week,” he added.
“I’ve not seen the image since but I know that some people still have it. A few people have said it before, threatened me when I’ve had a go at them.”
The school says it doesn’t have the power to physically check phones and delete information unless they’re seized by the police, but it has asked parents to do it.
It also says that all students are taught the dangers of this behaviour in assemblies and ICT lessons and all children were informed of the recent change in policy.
It is not clear whether police created a similar file for the girl who received and shared the image, or what action was taken against her.
People who have found indecent or explicit images of themselves shared or posted on the internet have routinely been treated as victims rather than aggressors since the introduction of a revenge porn law in April.
-DAILY MAIL, UK