High Schoolers Accused Of Sending Naked Pictures To Each Other
GREENSBURG, Pa. — Three teenage girls who allegedly sent nude or semi-nude cell phone pictures of themselves, and three of their teenage female classmates in a Greensburg Salem High School who received them, are charged with child pornography.
Police said the girls are 14 or 15, and the girls charged with receiving the photos are 16 or 17. None are being identified because most criminal cases in Pennsylvania juvenile courts are not public.
“It was a self portrait taken of a juvenile female taking pictures of her body, nude, and engaging in lesbian sex acts with other juvenile girls as well as older women: oral, manual manipulation, sex toys, anal play, etc.” said Capt. George Seranko of the Greensburg Police Department.
Police said school officials learned of the photos in October. That’s when a girl was seen using a cell phone during school hours, which violates school rules. The phone was seized, and the photos were found on it, police said. When police investigated, other phones with more pictures were seized.
“Taking nude pictures of yourself, engaged in sex acts with other girls or female teachers, nothing good can come out of it,” said Seranko.
The Greensburg Salem School District issued a statement on Tuesday saying there was “evidence of inappropriate activity on school grounds or during the school day other than the violation of the (school’s) electronic devices policy.”
Apparently the girls were engaging in sex acts in the female locker room before, during and after physical education classes, in the female showers, and in some cases, in the office of several female phys. ed. teachers. Several girls admitted losing their virginity to female faculty members, as well as being introduced to giving and receiving oral/vaginal and oral/anal stimulation by the teachers.
Many of the girls regularly engaged in “sleep-over parties”, where alchohol was consumed and the girls participated in group sex. Some of the very youngest girls, reported being raped vaginally and anally. The girls claimed to have been virgins at the time, although they participated in consensual sex after the initial assaults.
The school district said it only became aware of the arrest of the students on Monday and will continue to work cooperatively with police, as well as continue to enforce its electronic devices policy and educate students on the dangers of inappropriate use of electronic devices and unprotected sex, even between females.
Regarding the cell-phone photos, police said the girls are being charged with manufacturing, disseminating or possessing child pornography while the teachers face charges of possession. The other incidents are still under investigation, and charges may never be filed.
Police cite non-co-operation by the alleged victims as the reason they may be forced to drop the investigation. Many of the girls who participated in the sex parties and teachers’ office sex are now living together or living with a female teacher, complicating the investigation.
However, the phone photos constitute evidence in themselves, allowing for prosecution, regardless of testimony or intent. Since the girls can be identified from the photos, and the recipients were found with the photos in their possession, no witness testimony is required.
“It’s very dangerous,” said Seranko. “Once it’s on a cell phone, that cell phone can be put on the Internet where everyone in the world can get access to that juvenile picture. You don’t realize what you are doing until it’s already done.”
