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Vermont Teen Going to the Slammer for 'Sexting'
In recent years, 'sexting' has entered our lexicon, frightening the parents of teens with cell phones and other mobile devices. Now, lawmakers and judges are cracking down on the act, and, as a result, a Vermont teen is headed to prison.According to the Associated Press, 18-year-old Isaac Owusu will serve 90 days of a two-year sentence in a Vermont prison after pleading guilty to two counts of committing a prohibited act and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct this past Thursday in what was the state's first sexting case. It could've been worse for the teen from Morrisville, who told two teenage girls to send him videos or photos of them performing sexual acts. However, Vermont lawmakers recently decriminalized sexting, which led to sexual assault charges against Owusu being dropped as part of a plea deal.
Legislators say they passed the loosened sexting law because they didn't want teens to be labeled as sex offenders due to, in the words of the AP, "something so foolish." We doubt the parents of the two girls involved think this situation is "foolish," at all. While this young man didn't physically interact with these girls in any inappropriate way, his behavior is nevertheless unacceptable. Lawmakers need to send a hard message to teens: Sexting isn't okay. A reduced sentence doesn't accomplish that. [From: AP/ABC News]
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Comments
135
Subscribe to commentsChadSep 4th 2009 2:18PM
Let me get this right. This guy asks...ASKS these girls to send him video of them and they comply so the guy is charged with RECEIVING the "sexts".
JakeSep 7th 2009 9:08AM
That can't be constitutional, its got to be in violation of something, his right to privacy or the freedom of information act, screw big brother.
JamesSep 7th 2009 9:55AM
Oh you didn't know? No matter what the guy is always guilty despite him not being the one to do the acts. We live in a country where it's alwways going to be Guilty till proven innocent. Basically we have copied mexico's injustice system. In a divorce who wins out the most? It's not the husband I can tell you that. So no matter what. The man will always be found or made to look guilty despite what the evidence will show.. Which in this case he was not the one doing this acts. So the government went to auto male is guilty mode. Just liek the atitude was a woman could never force a male to have sex. But yet there was cases in the past where that happened. But yet it's still considered a myth. Which to me that this society has major issues.
clairesullSep 7th 2009 10:58AM
No, not right. The article missed important information, such as, some of the girls were forced to send him pictures. Also, he forced a 14 yr old into a locker room and forced her to perform sexual acts. He and his friends bullied the girls that told on him. His defense was that he only got in trouble because he was black. Find the rest of the article at BurlingtonFreePress.com in the archives under So. Burlington.
JANBANANNASep 7th 2009 12:20PM
Did they reply?????
RichSep 7th 2009 1:09PM
Just like it is illegal to ask someone to perform a sex act and discuss compensation for doing it.
exaguySep 7th 2009 1:55PM
My thought exactly. A case of be careful what you wish for gone deep into left field!
karen80027Sep 22nd 2009 1:15PM
I just read the article about this on the burlington free press dot com website. He is primarily going to jail for THREE sexual assaults (two are statutory rape of a 14-yr old) IN ADDITION to the sexting, so this is not a case of sending him to jail just for sexting. He is obviously a sexual predator in the making. If commenters would read up before commenting, there would be less confusion on their part. He also did apply considerable pressure for the girls to sext him, who were only 15 BTW.
NinjanobiSep 24th 2009 9:45AM
Being that the information is broadcast, even though it's a Cell Phone it's still public domain, indecent exposure. Plus we don't need any more immorality in America, we need to be cracking down on this stuff. Not to mention underage teens will be all over that.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt)Sep 25th 2009 8:49PM
the dude that wrote this article really left out ALOT of important details. there was no mention of the girls being 14, the sex acts ACTUALLY being performed (and by force no less), or being bullied for telling on him. that makes this a completely different discussion. i was actually on the boys side until i read that on the other site. try and do a better job of summarizing next time.
ShannonSep 4th 2009 2:27PM
"While this young man didn't physically interact with these girls in any inappropriate way, his behavior is nevertheless unacceptable. Lawmakers need to send a hard message to teens: Sexting isn't okay." ----- I'm sorry but if these girls were foolish enough to comply with such a request then THEIR behavior is just as unacceptable as the teen who is going to jail - nobody forced them to do anything - he didn't threaten, injure or even trick them... yet he is going to jail and they are the "victims"?! Give me a break! This is absurd! Your last line "Lawmakers need to send a hard message to teens: Sexting isn't okay" should be directed at all parties who would engage in sexting - if a guy can be charged with a crime just for opening one of these messages, then the girl who sent it in the first place should be considered just as culpable for that crime!
shrlnwllmsSep 7th 2009 9:34AM
I agree 100% Sharon these young (so-called) ladies should be seated on the next bus to the femal facility.
LucasinvirginiaSep 7th 2009 10:57AM
HIS behavior is unacceptable? Why were the girls not charged for transmitting pornography? Very recently a Judge gave a man about 30 days in jail for child rape. The man reoffrended...VERY QUICKLY! This kid sent a PRIVATE communication to some girls...made a request...they complied with his request. HE WAS SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS (and actually served less time with Probation for the remainder of his sentence I guess?). I can't believe it! No mention is made of how authorities were brought into the picture but I assume it was an irate mom who called police to make sure he didn't mess with her "little girl" again. Perhaps the mom (and dad if there is one) ought to be charged and jailed as well for failing to do a decent job of teaching her kid MORALS! Perhaps the boy's parents should be jailed as well (especially his dad) for failing to teach their kid about the stupid things boys can do with girls that can end in a prison sentence FOR BOYS ONLY!! This is just another example of "big brother" looking over everyone's shoulder. If these girls were over the age of fourteen the act should have been deemed "consensual" and the law, police, courts, Bill O'Reilly and everyone else kept out of it. Then momma could discipline her "little sweetheart" and the boy's father could kick his butt and justice is truly served...noone's life is ruined...the girl goes to a Convent...the boy into the military (sent directly to Afganistan) and everybody's happy. God help us. We are really discombobulated over anything sexual in this country. What we really need is a good medication that deactivates all those raging hormones! The kids could be forced to take the stuff until they're twenty-five or thirty. No young men would end up in jail and the girls would have sufficient time to grow a brain!
HollySep 4th 2009 2:32PM
I think this is total bullsh*t. The government are way to into civilians business as it is and now they are sending people to jail over a picture? What about the girls? Don't they have to serve jail time? And if so why not? They were the ones to send the picture. So what happens if someone is p*ssed at someone else and sends a picture of themselves in the nude just to have them arrested? I can see if this is a pedophile then by all means lock them away for good but it doesn't seem to be the case here. Totally unreal.
Lynne NeissSep 4th 2009 2:49PM
Oh come on people... I have 4 girls and mine would sooner walk up to the creep and deck him before sending him and pics like that. If you havent sat your kids down and had a chat with them or can't trust them to have a brain then TAKE THEIR DANG PHONE!!!!!
Lynne NeissSep 4th 2009 2:52PM
Oh come on people... I have 4 girls and mine would sooner walk up to
the creep and deck him before sending him and pics like that. If you
havent sat your kids down and had a chat with them or can't trust
them to have a brain then TAKE THEIR DANG PHONE!!!!!
cyberfiend66Sep 4th 2009 3:02PM
This is beyond ludicrous...are all lawmakers on drugs these days, do they sit around, light up with each other and say "hey let's see what kinda s--t we can come up with, to make into law today"
RollinsSep 4th 2009 4:36PM
You're the first person I've ever seen attempt to argue for stronger sexting charges.
He asked the girls to send pictures of themselves doing sexual acts and they complied, not understanding the consequences because they're all teenagers. How is he deserving of a punishment greater than 90 days in prison?
If it was an older adult and children under 16 involved, maybe that would make sense. Given the situation, however, a stronger sentence would be lunacy. It's bad enough to take the 18-year old out of school for three months.
RollinsSep 14th 2009 9:26AM
You know, if you acquired basic English skills, people might take you seriously.
XoyujiSep 4th 2009 6:06PM
He is an adult 18 and the two teen girls are how old if there under 18; he should get what ever the judge said plain and simple if everybody was under 18 than no but him being an adult changes the story.