By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
ASHWAUBENON – An ordinance prohibiting minors from sexting was approved Tuesday, Aug. 27, by the village board.
Village Attorney Tony Wachewicz said the idea of adopting the ordinance originated from discussions with the Department of Public Safety and the school resource officers to have an additional enforcement tool related to sexting by minors.
Wachewicz said the ordinance could be used at the discretion of officers, rather than issuing a criminal charge regarding the electronic exchange of graphic materials.
“So really, what it does is gives (officers) an option as a local ordinance violation, instead of putting (minors) in the juvenile justice system, if the circumstances would allow,” he said.
“I think the more options you have, the better off you are,” said Trustee Ken Bukowski.
The ordinance will prohibit any person under the age of 18 from:
• Using any device capable of electronic data transmission or distribution to transmit or distribute to another minor any image, recording, text, correspondence, message or other substantially similar form of communication, of any person that depicts nudity and is harmful to minors.
• Possessing any image, recording, text, correspondence, message or other substantially similar form of communication that was transmitted or distributed by another minor that depicts nudity and is harmful to minors.
• Soliciting the transmission or distribution of any image, recording, text, message or other substantially similar form of communication from another minor that would itself be prohibited under this section.
Exceptions to being cited for violating the measure include a minor not soliciting the photograph or video; taking reasonable steps to report the photograph or video to a school or law enforcement official; and not transmitting or distributing the photo or video to a third party other than a school or law enforcement official.
In a related matter, the board also amended the village’s bond schedule for non-traffic offenses to include sexting by minors in the municipal code, which calls for a total forfeiture of $250 for a first offense and $439 for a second offense.