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Virginia Legislator Aims to Protect Teens from Child Pornography Charges

The Virginia Senate has passed a bill that would reduce charges for teens facing criminal charges for “sexting”. The bill’s sponsor, Virginia Senator Scott Surovell, acknowledges that exchanging explicit photos is a common practice among high school students and says, “We don’t want to make every kid in the school a felon.”

Unfortunately, it appears that Surovell, who started out with the right idea, is comfortable making every kid in the school (or, at least, the significant percentage who admit to exchanging sexually explicit photos) a criminal, so long as that crime is a misdemeanor.

The bill is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t decriminalize sexting between similar-age teens. It only allows the prosecutor the option of charging teen defendants with a misdemeanor instead of a felony. Teens “sexting” with other teens could still face felony charges, and could still be required to register as sex offenders.

Teens Could Avoid Felony Charges for “Sexting”: Senate Passes Bill

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California Backs Away from Lifetime Sex Offender Registration

In October, California governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that will allow registered sex offenders to petition for removal from both the public registry and law enforcement listings.

Interestingly, the bill had significant support from law enforcement, for the same reason cited by many critics of sex offender registration policies across the country: with 100,000 names on the registry, it was difficult for both law enforcement and the public to determine who presented a threat.

Previously, California required those convicted of “registry offense” sex crimes to register for life.

Under the new law, about 90% of registered sex offenders will be able to petition for removal after either 10 or 20 years, as long as they have not committed a serious crime such as a violent felony or another sex crime in the interim.

This common-sense modification benefits law enforcement and communities as much as it does rehabilitated sex offenders and those who should never have been placed on the registry, such as teens who were involved in consensual sexual relationships with other teens. But, it’s taken years to get the measure through the legislature because many politicians don’t want to be associated with this type of bill–a problem that stands in the way of needed reform in many states and at the federal level.

New California Law Allows Sex Offenders to be Removed from the Registry