There've been signs that something like this might be only a matter of time. And I'm not just talking about the snapshots of Miley doing a questionable mouth-to-mouth candy swap with a girlfriend during a sleepover. Just last week, there were the photos circulated on the Internet of the 15-year-old star raising her tank top to reveal a lime green bra, and there are pictures of Miley lying in the arms of a guy atop some pillows.

The pornification of Miley Cyrus is underway.

We really should be used to it by now. It seems as if it's a rite of passage for child stars. When they were ready to broaden their appeal, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and others knew that they had to show more skin and turn up the heat, so to speak. Scandalous headlines, drug- and alcohol-fueled binges, and stints in fancy rehab centers weren't too far behind.

Although the photo of Miley in Vanity Fair with a satin bed sheet clutched to her chest can hardly be considered sexually graphic, it's impossible not to look at it and see her as a girl teetering on the verge. The only question is, of what?

Will the young star, with the much-hyped, sold-out concert tour and the wildly successful TV show "Hannah Montana," wind up tottering down the same scandal-ridden path of some of her infamous predecessors? Spears and Lohan aside, let's not forget "High School Musical's" Vanessa Hudgens' nude photo debacle, or Jamie Lynn Spears' surprise pregnancy at 16.

In hindsight, Miley now says that she's ashamed of how the photo, taken by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, turned out. "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed," she told "Entertainment Tonight."

It's easy enough to give Miley a pass. She's young - and a poor match against the entertainment industry that would give the OK for the world's biggest child star to essentially strip for a magazine photo shoot. Regardless as to how "artsy" the photo was supposed to be, someone should have been protecting this girl from an industry that thrives on controversy and eats innocents for breakfast.

As Vanity Fair pointed out to an "Entertainment Tonight" reporter, Miley's parents and handlers were on the set of the photo shoot. In fact, in one image, Miley even poses with her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus of "Achy Breaky Heart" fame.

In other words, they knew what they were doing when they tousled Miley's mane, giving it a bed-head look, and having her wrap her thin, little body in that sheet.

It was a calculated move that, no doubt, will begin to transfer Miley's appeal onto a more mature audience. In the process, she'll have to leave her loyal tween fan base behind. But hopefully not herself as well. Haven't we seen that happen too many times with too many former child stars? *

Have you peeped a hot trend that hasn't been reported? E-mail heyjen@phillynews.com and let me know what you know.