Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law, Allen County Attorney Wade Bowie told a group of Marmaton Valley High School students Thursday.
And now that every middle school and high school in the county has been briefed about the consequences of sexting — sending and receiving sexually oriented text messages involving minors that can lead to an array of felony criminal charges — no one can claim they didn’t know, he said.
“This is your one hall pass or get out of jail free card,” Bowie said.
Beginning last fall, Bowie and local law enforcement set out to educate Allen County youth about how even a minor experience with sexting can have a long-term impact on someone’s life.
Illustrating the relevance of the presentations, Jan. 28 Scott Bedell, 19, Humboldt, was arrested outside the Iola High School homecoming dance for what were described as sexting crimes. A 13-year-old boy also was taken into custody.
Aside from felony child pornography and sexual exploitation charges, juveniles caught sexting can end up on the official sex offender registry.
Thursday’s Marmaton Valley presentation was Bowie’s last sexting seminar for the year. Iola and Humboldt students got their lesson on the subject that has become a growing problem nationwide for parents, teachers and law enforcement earlier in the school year.
Bowie said the sexting informational sessions are the first step by his office to make the communities within Allen County aware of his responsibilities and the publics responsibilities.
To give the public, and not just juveniles, a better idea of why any and all charges are filed and how sentences for those found guilty are determined, Bowie will stage public meetings throughout the county this spring. The first “public forum,” as he called it, will be at 1 p.m. April 5 at Brown’s Store in Mildred.
“I feel it’s my responsibility to get out and do things like this because public education, letting people know what’s going on, I think that’s what it’s all about,” he said. “A lot of prosecutors don’t get out and about like I do.”
Public meetings in Iola, Humboldt, Moran and Savonburg are in the works but dates have not been confirmed.
