Teen Stars And Child Porn

Vanessa Hudgens' recent nude photo brings up some very interesting legal questions. At one point when the photo was first released there were unconfirmed and unsubstantiated whispers that Vanessa was only seventeen when she took the photos. Then, this weekend it was intimated she took and sent more nude photos when she was just sixteen.

The seventeen year old story went away very quickly and everyone who was asked denied any knowledge of any photos taken when she was just sixteen.

I have no knowledge of whether either of those situations is actually true, but it brings up a very interesting point of law which may lead other celebrities to hide the fact they were under the age of 18 if they took nude photos of themselves.

Generally when you think of child pornography you think of some dirty old man taking photos of children and then keeping them for himself or sending them to other like minded dirty old men.

Child pornography is not limited to this one set of facts though. Technically if an underage person takes naked photos of themselves and then distributes them, even to someone else underage, it is considered child pornography.

Therefore, if a celebrity who is 17 takes naked photos of themselves and then sends the photos to their friend or boyfriend or anyone for that matter, it is considered distribution of child pornography. In addition, the recipient of the photo could be charged with possession of child pornography.

In a recent Florida case two 16 year old teenagers who were boyfriend and girlfriend took naked photos of themselves, were discovered, arrested, and convicted. Their conviction was upheld by an appeals court in Florida.

The justice who wrote the majority opinion stated, "As previously stated, the reasonable expectation that the material will ultimately be disseminated is by itself a compelling state interest for preventing the production of this material. In addition, the statute was intended to protect minors like appellant and her co-defendant from their own lack of judgment...

Appellant was simply too young to make an intelligent decision about engaging in sexual conduct and memorializing it. Mere production of these videos or pictures may also result in psychological trauma to the teenagers involved.

Further, if these pictures are ultimately released, future damage may be done to these minors' careers or personal lives. These children are not mature enough to make rational decisions concerning all the possible negative implications of producing these videos."

The minority argued that the law was designed to protect children from others which is what I would have argued, but I must admit the majority presents a very reasoned argument and has the best interests of the child in mind with their ruling.

Again, I want to make it clear that to the best of my knowledge, Vanessa was 18 when she took those photos, and this commentary was just to show how gossip, sex tapes, and nude photos sometimes have real world consequences other than just embarrassment.