Sexting investigation at Plymouth Whitemarsh
Montgomery County officials are investigating how inappropriate photos of high school students were placed on a file-sharing website. Police this week were called to investigate a Dropbox account with photos and video clips of minors who attend Plymouth Whitemarsh High School or live in surrounding communities.
Montgomery County officials are investigating how inappropriate photos of high school students were placed on a file-sharing website.
Police this week were called to investigate a Dropbox account with photos and video clips of minors who attend Plymouth Whitemarsh High School or live in surrounding communities.
"The preliminary investigation revealed a Dropbox account that included pictures of a number of current and graduated students," Colonial School District Superintendent MaryEllen Gorodetzer said in a statement.
Whitemarsh Township police said they have shut down the Dropbox account and are working with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office to investigate.
The account was discovered by school officials Wednesday when a parent contacted school officials and asked them to investigate a sexting incident, the district said in a message on its website.
Police were called to the school to meet with staff and a group of students. They learned that the link to Dropbox had been circulating among students at the high school.
Investigators are to obtain search warrants and subpoenas to look into the sharing of the photos and videos, Whitemarsh Police Chief T. Michael Beaty said in a statement.
The high school previously had arranged for the District Attorney's Office to present sessions about inappropriate use of social media; they will be held Dec. 3 and 7.
"We can't stress enough that anything posted on a social-media site can be copied and used by anyone," Gorodetzer said. "You need to think before you hit send."
A similar sexting case was uncovered this year at North Penn High School in Lansdale, when students reported that a Dropbox account contained inappropriate photos. The account was found to contain sexually explicit photos of more than 30 girls.
Though police said dozens of students were involved in sending the photos, just one, Brandon Tyler Berlin, was charged with collecting the nude photos from other students and posting them to Dropbox. He was charged in September with transmission of sexually explicit images by a minor, a misdemeanor under Pennsylvania law.
Last week, Chester County officials announced that a fourth boy had been arrested in a sexting case in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, where officials said the boys shared sexually explicit images of a 13-year-old girl.
Teen sexting is a special category of crime in Pennsylvania under a law passed to deal with an increasing number of sexting cases. It is designed to make the charges less serious than a crime involving child pornography.
Minors ages 12 to 17 who consensually share explicit photos can be charged with summary-level offenses. Passing photos to others to harass or intimidate can lead to misdemeanor charges.
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