A North Carolina teen is being prosecuted for having naked selfies of himself on his own phone. He and his girlfriend are facing charges of the adult perpetrators and the minor victims in a bizarre law loophole, according to the Guardian.
Cormega Copening, 17, from Fayetteville, North Carolina, was 16 at the time he was suspended, and was the quarterback of his high school team. He was also named in the media, as he is being charged as an adult under federal child pornography laws for the sexual exploitation of a minor, the minor being himself.
Experts are calling the entire case ludicrous.
The young "offender" has had to take a plea deal to avoid potential jail time and also to avoid having to register as a sex offender all for possessing naked selfies of himself, according to Rolling Stone. Also included in the plea agreement, he had to agree to random police searches without a warrant and cannot have a cellphone for one year.
In an even nuttier twist, it is legal to have actual sex at age 16, in North Carolina, but sexting is considered a federal crime, according to Scary Mommy.
"It's dysfunctional to be charged with possession of your own image," Justin Patchin, the co-founder of cyberbullying.com. "Kids should not be charged for that. And you don't want kids to be sending such pictures to their significant others, but I don't think it should be a criminal offense where there is no victim."
