A male teen is being investigated by Police following allegations that he shared explicit images of four classmates which he obtained by posing as a female online. If the claims are substantiated, the student may be charged under Victoria’s new sexting laws and could face a penalty of up to two years imprisonment. As there is an ongoing investigation by the Box Hill Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team (Investigation Team), the Police have not commented beyond confirming that a complaint has been lodged.

The incident

A Police spokesperson has confirmed that there is an ongoing investigation regarding the alleged distribution of intimate images in the Box Hill area. The Agereports that the individual who distributed these images is a student aged approximately 15 years old at one of the schools in the area. Although the school is unknown, the Investigation Team has jurisdiction over the inner and middle eastern suburbs of Melbourne which contain numerous elite schools, both public and private.

The incident allegedly involves the student posing as a female online in order to obtain intimate images from four classmates. The student may have then shared these images with others. If it can be proven that these images were of underage students or that the students did not consent to the images being shared, then the student will have violated the Victorian Summary Offences Act (1966).

Victoria’s new laws

Victoria introduced new laws last year to acknowledge the phenomenon of sexting, which involves the sharing of explicit images via text message or online. As discussed in our article on the new laws, it is clear that sexting is a widespread problem in schools, not only because it leaves the individual open to bullying, blackmail or humiliation, but also because minors were previously committing a sex offence by creating, possessing or sharing explicit images of underage people. That conduct could have resulted in the student being placed on the sex offenders register for offences relating to child pornography. To resolve this issue and to highlight the problems raised by sexting, the new offences were introduced and existing laws were amended.

It is now an offence in Victoria to distribute an explicit image of anyone under 18 or of an adult without consent. It is also illegal to threaten to distribute these images. At the same time, exceptions to child pornography laws were introduced to avoid unnecessarily adding underage people to the sex offender’s register.

Under the amended laws, a student who has allegedly obtained and distributed the images may not have committed a child pornography offence under the Crimes Act (1958). Assuming that the relevant facts can be proven, a student will have committed an offence under the Summary Offences Act.

Lessons for other jurisdictions

It is unclear whether in the current case, there will be any consequences for the student under the Victorian laws relating to child pornography offences. In most other jurisdictions, the student could have been convicted of serious offences relating to the distribution of child pornography, with serious long term consequences. This incident only increases the need for schools to manage the risks associated with sexting as best they can.

As sexting becomes increasingly common, schools should be aware of the potential for this conduct to be illegal, with or without the malicious use of these images. Students at schools may be guilty of child pornography offences if they possess an explicit image, even if the image is of themselves and they have consented to the image being taken. Students are often unaware of the serious legal consequences of sexting, and schools can play an important role in educating the school community so that the likelihood of students engaging in illegal activity is minimised.

In addition to legal problems, sexting can lead to serious bullying incidents within schools. These images can be shared without the consent of the person they depict, or a person may be subject to threats relating to the distribution of intimate images. These incidents can cause significant harm to the students involved. Schools must be aware of the risks of sexting and be willing to assist students who have been targeted. It can be the case that the student was tricked or manipulated into sharing the images, as demonstrated by the alleged incident in Melbourne.

Monitoring online activity

Monitoring and managing their students’ use and misuse of the internet and mobile phones is an enormous challenge for schools. Incidents that occur outside of school hours can have consequences for the mental well-being and safety of students while at school. As such, schools should educate their students about the responsible use of technology and have policies in place to deal with incidents of bullying. As difficult as the photo-sharing situation already is, it is made harder by the anonymity enabled by online communications.

The Melbourne student apparently concealed his identity to obtain intimate images of classmates, which according to the Children’s e-Safety Commissioner Alistair MacGibbon, is not an uncommon occurrence. The Australian reported on the rise of fake social media accounts being created by children to target their peers. Commissioner MacGibbon says that incidents include ‘shaming sites where a person decides to name various young women in the neighbourhood — these are very young high school girls — to say where she lives, say she’s a slut and upload photos’.

In order to help combat this issue, the Office of the Children’s e-Safety Commissioner has announced 16 organisations that are authorised to teach online safety in schools. As parents can play a major role in allowing and monitoring their child’s use of social media and other forms of communication, schools should consider reaching out to parents when combating online bullying. In many of the circumstances surrounding online bullying, it is the various parties’ lack of understanding of the risks or consequences of their actions that can lead to harm. The best tactic available to schools is to remedy this lack of understanding through education and the creation of clear ‘student-friendly’ policies.