The prosecutor is nuts. The prosecutor is not nuts.

[Stinky The Clown]

Long story short. A 14 year old girl posted explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace. It got reported. The Passaic County, NJ prosecutor arrested the girl and charged her with possession and distribution of child porn.

If convicted, the kid gets to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life. Plus 17 years in the slammer.

Is the term 'prosecutorial discretion' forgotten? Is the kid deserving of such a punishment? Is the prosecutor sound in pressing this case or not?

In other words, is the prosecutor nuts or not?

Link to full story here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gebS2MKqUm9cqEj6s0Rv9gQVvY6AD97608480

[tridim]

1. I'm so glad my Parents never posted my childhood bath photo on the Internets.

They'd probably be in prison now.

[NavyDavy]

5. my wife wanted to take pix of my 2yr old daughter in the bath tub b4 we

got a digital camera and have them developed, I was like nonono they probably would turn us in for child pornography....and that was back in 2002 when everyone was being prosecuted for the littlest things like that....

[lapfog_1]

11. But they sure liked to show them to my first serious

college girlfriend when I brought her home to meet the family.

What's was up with that???

[tridim]

12. Hehe, my parents did the same thing

Parents are strange. :)

[MineralMan]

13. Me, too...but they did show them to my girlfriend while I was

in High School. She found it amusing. Didn't bother me at all, though, but I won't tell you why.

[OmahaBlueDog]

2. I think the prosecutor is stuck

The law is on the books and the law is clear. It is not the prosecutors job to write or interpret law. My hope is that either a jury lets the kid off, or the governor grants a pardon & expungement.

My question: why is the kid being charged as an adult?

[Stinky The Clown]

4. I think that's the prosecutor's choice

[OmahaBlueDog]

8. I'll concede I haven't read the law

I don't know if a plea deal could have been offered that would have avoided the more serious ramifications here. As you are aware, many of these laws are pretty harsh, and I don't know what, if any, wiggle room exists here.

[pnutbutr]

3. It's a win on his record

this is a problem today with prosecutors. They need these cases and wins to boost their careers so they trample common sense and ruin peoples lives to make sure they get ahead. Judges need to step in and put a stop to this bullshit and throw out these cases, reprimand the prosecutors for pushing it and send a message that this crap needs to stop as it is not the intent of the law.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. "The intent of the law" ..... the jaw dropper in tihs case is that this 14 year old girl ...........

....... is being charged under "Megan's Law" ..... a law written expressly to protect children.

In my view, a 14 year old is a child.

[pnutbutr]

10. Megan's mother

even made statements about how the law was never meant to be used to prosecute the children it's meant to protect and was none to pleased about this case.

[Zywiec]

7. This could get you arrested now. (NSFW)

[NavyDavy]

9. I would be pulling that girlies computer priveleges for life unless

me or my wife was in the room watching....<shaking head in frustration> why do these girls do this? my daughter is 9 yrs old, and she already has a crush on a boy in her class.....so it probably had something to do with a boy!!!!but my gosh....

[Stinky The Clown]

14. There is no parental punishment (assuming it is legal) too extreme

to be meted out to the kid. I am in NO WAY defending her.

But prosecuting her is bad in the extreme, too.

[Fleshdancer]

15. Ruining her entire life based on one idiotic decision

Teenagers do stupid things. If you can't screw up when you're a teenager, then when? She didn't hurt anyone, she isn't a sex offender, and getting arrested and prosecuted for child porn when she took a picture of herself is beyond ridiculous.