Teen sexting would be misdemeanor under bill passed by Kansas Senate

A bill that seeks to curb sexting among teens gained unanimous approval in the Kansas Senate on Tuesday.

SB 391 makes transmission of nude photos of a minor a misdemeanor offense when the offender is under 19. The intent of the bill is to generate more prosecutions of teens for sharing naked pictures of each other by reducing the penalty for doing it.

Now, a teenager who shares nude photos with a boyfriend or girlfriend would be committing a felony offense under current law. County prosecutors have been reluctant to seek charges in those cases.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Teen sexting would be misdemeanor under bill passed by Kansas Senate."