Details About Colorado High School's Sexting Scandal Emerge; Minors Reportedly Involved
Cañon City High School in Colorado is in the middle of a sexting scandal and parents from the small town are shocked, according to Time.
Authorities revealed Friday, a sexting ring involving approximately 100 students and hundreds of nude photographs circulating in the town's high school.
"It has come to the attention of the Cañon City School District that a number of our students have engaged in behavior where they take and pass along pictures of themselves that expose private parts of their bodies or their undergarments," said school officials in a statement posted on Facebook.
The controversy has rocked the high school and police are investigating if adults are involved. Law enforcement are also finding out if students who are considered underage were forced into taking lewd photographs, according to CNN.
Investigators have at least three mobile phones and one of them show several hundreds of the said images.
"We will be identifying people in the images," said Cañon city Police Chief Paul D. Schultz. "We haven't interviewed anybody yet. We're in the process of obtaining search warrants. We're in the process of coordinating forensic investigations of cell phones."
Cañon City High School's football team, the Cañon City Tigers are also at the sexting ring's center. Parents of the football players, as well as parents of other students held seperate community meetings Thursday night, according to The New York Times.
Since a large number of the school's football players are involved, the coaches and school administration decided to forfeit the next game and not let the players represent their community.
An anonymous tipster called Colorado's Safe2Tell Hotline this past week which started police investigation. This hotline allows young people to report threatening behavior but at the same time it keep them safe.
"It is not necessary that all of the children involved in the circumstance will have to register as a sex offender," said Fremont County District Attorney Thom LeDoux.
"We will only seek that remedy through the courts if we believe there is no other choice and is in the best interest in the victim involved and the children involved in our community," the prosecutor said.
Cañon City High School's parents were encouraged to talk to their children about sexting.
Recent studies show that parents may not realize or admit that sending nude photos via text or sexting is rampant among teens.
