N.J. girl arrested for nude photos unlikely to face jail

TRENTON - A New Jersey girl arrested for posting nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com may avoid jail and sex-offender laws, according to a prosecutor handling the case.

The 14-year-old Clifton girl was arrested this week and charged with child pornography and distribution of child pornography for allegedly posting nearly 30 explicit pictures on the social-networking site.

The charges carry penalties of up to 17 years in jail, and anyone convicted of distribution of child pornography can be required to register as a sex offender.

Passaic County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Susan Greco said yesterday that she could not talk specifically about the case because she had not yet received it from police or seen the photos.

"But generally speaking, a person charged with this, with no priors, would not get jail and would most likely not be required to register as a sex offender," Greco said.

Prosecutors were not consulted about the charges before police arrested the girl Tuesday, but they have vast discretion to recommend that the charges be changed.

Police were tipped off to the photos by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. After a monthlong investigation, they determined that the girl had posted the pictures so her boyfriend could see them. She was arrested and then released into her mother's custody.

A court date has not been set, Greco said.

Many people were critical of the move by police to cite the girl with such a severe charge, including the mother of Megan Kanka, whose death inspired Megan's Law. The law requires governments to alert neighbors of convicted sexual predators in their midst.

Maureen Kanka said that authorities should "be ashamed of themselves" for charging the girl, and that she hoped the girl would not have to register as a sex offender.

Seth Kreimer, a constitutional law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, agreed.

"To deploy the nuclear weapon of child-pornography charges shows almost as bad judgment as posting the nude photos themselves," he said.

Kreimer is working with the American Civil Liberties Union to stop a Pennsylvania prosecutor from charging three teenage girls who authorities say took racy cell phone pictures that ended up on classmates' cell phones.

Passaic County sheriff's spokesman Bill Maer said yesterday that police felt they had no choice but to cite the girl for child pornography.

"We feel the statute gave us no leeway but to charge her," he said. "We were cognizant that prosecutors have the ability to work out an appropriate arrangement with the defendant."

"The silver lining of this case is that we increased awareness through this defendant," Maer said.

Besides Pennsylvania and New Jersey, prosecutors in Connecticut, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin also have tried to put a stop to young people sending nude photos to one another via cell phones and e-mail by charging the teens with child pornography.

"These issues are popping up in a series of different venues," Kreimer said. "As digital technology advances, more and more kids are doing stupid things."