14-Year-Old New Jersey Girl May Get Sex Offender Status

Teen posts 30 Nude Photos On MySpace Of Herself
TRENTON- (AP) A 14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography after posting nearly 30 explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com — charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted.
The case comes as prosecutors nationwide pursue child pornography cases resulting from kids sending nude photos to one another over cell phones and e-mail. Legal experts, though, could not recall another case of a child porn charge resulting from a teen’s posting to a social networking site.
MySpace would not comment on the New Jersey investigation, but the company has a team that reviews its network for inappropriate images. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped off a state task force, which alerted the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office.
The office investigated and discovered the Clifton resident had posted the “very explicit” photos of herself, sheriff’s spokesman Bill Maer said Thursday.
“We consider this case a wake-up call to parents,” Maer said. The girl posted the photos because “she wanted her boyfriend to see them,” he said.
Investigators are looking at individuals who “knowingly” committed a crime, he said, declining to comment further because the case is still being investigated.
The teen, whose name has not been released because of her age, was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. She was released to her mother’s custody.
If convicted of the distribution charge, she would be forced to register with the state as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, said state Attorney General Anne Milgram. She also could face up to 17 years in jail, though such a stiff sentence is unlikely.
Some observers - including the New Jersey mother behind the creation of Megan’s Law — are criticizing the trend of prosecuting teens who send racy text messages or post illicit photos of themselves.

Maureen Kanka - whose daughter, Megan, became the law’s namesake after she was raped and killed at age 7 in 1994 by a twice-convicted sex offender - blasted authorities for charging the 14-year-old girl.
The teen needs help, not legal trouble, she said.
“This shouldn’t fall under Megan’s Law in any way, shape or form. She should have an intervention and counseling, because the only person she exploited was herself.”
Called “sexting” when it’s done by cell phone, teenagers’ habit of sending sexually suggestive photos of themselves and others to one another is a nationwide problem that has confounded parents, school administrators and law enforcers.
Prosecutors in states including Pennsylvania, Connecticut, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin have tried stop it by charging teens who send and receive the pictures.
In northeastern Pennsylvania, a prosecutor recently threatened to file child porn charges against three teenage girls who authorities say took racy cell-phone pictures that ended up on classmates’ cell phones.
The MySpace case may be a first, though.
“I’m not sure I’ve seen a prosecution like this coming out of a social networking site,” said Seth Kreimer, a constitutional law professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Milgram, the attorney general, could not recall another such case in New Jersey. She cautioned parents to get on those sites and monitor what their kids are talking about and posting.
“Unfortunately, youth don’t have the same judgment as adults,” she said, “and often, adults don’t have the same technical savvy as the youth.”

NJ Gov Email Fight

Appeals court says NJ govenor’s e-mails private

By ANGELA DELLI SANTI
Associated Press Writer
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — E-mails between New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine and his labor leader ex-girlfriend can remain private, an appeals court ruled Monday.
A three-judge appeals panel reversed a lower court ruling requiring the e-mails be made public.
"The release of confidential e-mails may have a chilling effect on the governor’s ability or willingness to solicit advice, or to accept unsolicited advice in the future," the appeals court wrote.
Corzine and his former girlfriend, Carla Katz, have been fighting to keep the e-mail exchanges private since Republican State Committee Chairman Tom Wilson and several news organizations, including The Associated Press, requested the correspondence.
"I’m pleased with the decision," Corzine told reporters outside his office Monday. "I think the courts unanimously came to the conclusion that we have properly invoked executive privilege."
Wilson called on the Democratic governor to make good on his promise of government transparency by releasing the e-mails. If he doesn’t, Wilson said he would appeal Monday’s decision to the state Supreme Court.
"If Tom Wilson wants to see the governor’s personal e-mails, he should go to the Supreme Court and ask them," Corzine spokesman Sean Darcy responded.
The ruling came on the eve of Corzine’s State-of-the-State address and threatened to overshadow the annual speech.
"We’re certainly disappointed in the decision," said GOP lawyer Mark Sheridan. "It seems to grant the governor the absolute privilege to act in secrecy."
Katz said she was gratified at the outcome.
"Hopefully, we can now move forward and focus on the real and serious issues facing working families in New Jersey," she said.
Attorney General Anne Milgram, who argued the case for Corzine on appeal, called Monday’s ruling "significant."
"Executive privilege is essential to the ability of Gov. Corzine and all future governors to perform their duties and be able to receive and solicit advice from diverse sources," Milgram said in a statement.
The appeals court was swayed by Corzine’s contention that the e-mails are privileged, a concept that allows officials to withhold certain information in the interest of governing. The panel was not persuaded by Wilson’s argument that the public could decide, by viewing the e-mails, whether the governor and Katz acted appropriately during contract talks with the state worker unions.
"Stripped to its basic terms, Wilson has articulated no more than a suspicion of conduct that may reveal flawed judgment but does not implicate criminal misconduct," the court wrote.
Milgram argued that Corzine would not be able to govern effectively if his private communications were open to the public.
Sheridan said the public has a right to view e-mails the governor’s office and Katz exchanged during state worker contract talks.
He sought disclosure of all e-mails and attachments between the governor or his staff and Katz that were not strictly personal or concerned general state business.
Wilson questioned whether state worker contract negotiations were tainted by the relationship between Corzine and Katz, who dated before Corzine became governor in 2006. She is president of the largest state worker local, Communications Workers of America Local 1034.
CWA relieved Katz of her duties as president in July, alleging financial mismanagement of the local. She and her executive board remain suspended; however, Katz has not been officially removed from her position and is fighting the suspension.
Wilson said the e-mails could show what, if any, influence Katz had in Corzine’s decision to stop the Legislature from tackling state worker pension and health care reforms in 2007.
Corzine has said no backdoor negotiations took place. Katz, however, argued that the e-mails should remain private because they involve contract talks, which are exempt from Open Public Records Act requests.
That argument infuriated CWA, which claimed in legal papers that Katz and Corzine broke the law if they engaged in collective bargaining via e-mail exchanges.