Sheriff Warns Parents About The Dangers Of Teens And 'Nude Selfies'

Posted by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Sunday, March 13, 2016

These photos are forever circulating in cyberspace. Of these cases, one in four photos involved young teenage girls and boys who had taken nude "selfies," perhaps as an "act of love" for a boyfriend or girlfriend, an act of teenage rebellion, a cry for attention, or did so because they were duped by someone posing as a friend or teenage acquaintance. All too often, these images end up on the internet or in the hands of child predators, some of whom actually make contact with these children with specific intent of luring them into a relationship, extorting them for additional photos and videos, or in some cases, even money. These cases slice across all socio-economic and racial lines.

Let me be clear; these images NEVER disappear. They are forever present on the internet, viewed and traded like baseball cards by child molesters, predators, and extortionists, many of whom re-post these nude images on file sharing sites, exponentially exposing these inappropriate and illegal images of a young girl or boy. Afterward, our young victims often fall into deep depression and have suicidal feelings which stay with them for a lifetime.

Our youth need public figures and parents to work together and provide information to our families about the high-risk consequences of inappropriate photo sharing. We need and want to partner with high profiles individuals whose form of self-expression is not blatantly a form of commerce, but a demonstration of the importance of setting goals and teaching our children, but especially our girls, that they have more to offer than just their bodies.

Directing someone to make, send, or possess these photos is both a federal and state crime. Every day, our Human Trafficking Bureau sees the tragic realization for parents who learn of their child mimicking what they see in the media, or buying into the myth that their online accounts are truly private, truly secure, that they can control the access of the increasingly sophisticated criminal enterprises who hunt for their next victims on the very platforms parents may believe are just for fun.