Did you know if you are under the age of 18 and send an inappropriate or revealing photograph of yourself (sexting), via social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Kik) or a cell phone, you could be charged with a felony? This was one of many topics Special Agent Jackie Gittins with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) empowered the students in grades 5 through 12 at Piedmont Academy during their monthly chapel program on February 25, 2016. This topic was chosen to educate the students and adults on the various topics regarding social media.

Agent Gittins stressed the fact that you putting yourself in a very serious situation and you are also harming all of those who love and care about you. Social media can be fun and entertaining to millions, but there are thousands of predators arrested every day who search for vulnerable children and young adults.

A significant amount of crime investigation by the GBI is to find and arrest such predators. They send undercover agents to pose as underage children and engage in conversations online. Once the predator is identified, the agents meet at a predetermined location and the predator is arrested. Just this year, twenty-two predators between the ages of nineteen and fifty-two have been discovered and arrested in our area.

Many people do not know all the tools our law enforcement agencies have available to them to recover and retrieve deleted text messages and pictures from cell phones and cell applications. Georgia law, OCGA 16-12-100: Sexual Exploitation of Children, is a felony. The law states it is unlawful for any person to create, reproduce, publish, sell, distribute, give, or possess any photograph / video visual medium which depict a minor engaged in any sexually explicit conduct. The sentence is five to twenty years and a fine up to $100,000.00 per photograph.

Agent Gittins shared two stories with the students. In Indiana, two middle school students were caught using their cell phones to exchange nude pictures of each other and were charged with possession of child pornography and child exploitation. The charges carried a maximum of eleven years in prison. Furthermore, two children had to go before juvenile court and both were sent off to youth development centers.

Agent Gittins’ second story involved a thirteen year old girl who met an eighteen year old boy using an app on her phone. The girl decided to meet the stranger in person so she snuck out of her bedroom one night. Tragically, she was found the next day stabbed to death.

Unfortunately, these types of stories are in the news all the time. If a person does not make a poor choice, one does not have to suffer the consequences. Be diligent to make the right choices and remember, once a message, photo, video, etc. has been sent to cyberspace, it is out there for the whole world to see. Don’t be a victim and become proactive vs. reactive.