Home › News › State
Bill would outlaw putting school photos on porn sites
Download this story as a podcast!
STORY TOOLS 
More from StateSACRAMENTO — People who take photographs of high school athletes or cheerleaders at public events and then post those pictures on pornographic Web sites would be guilty of a crime under a bill approved Tuesday by the Assembly Public Safety Committee.
The measure, written by Assemblyman Cameron Smyth, R-Santa Clarita, was inspired by an incident last year in which photos of high school swimmers from Orange County were found posted on gay pornography sites.
The bill would make it a crime punishable by a year in jail and a $5,000 fine to display such pictures alongside obscene material.
It would apply to photographs of any minors, not just those participating in sports or other school activities.
The bill would not bar photographers from otherwise sharing pictures of teens taken at public events — such as on Web sites featuring high school sports news or community events.
"Bills like this can be very challenging," said Smyth, whose district includes much of Simi Valley. "We're trying to draft something very surgical to make it a crime to sell or post the pictures on pornographic sites."
Smyth noted the photos of Orange County swimmers included school logos on the boys' swim caps and trunks.
"The kids' faces were shown and the name of their school," he said. "You can imagine the frustration of their parents."
The measure, AB2104, received the unanimous, bipartisan support of members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee.
It will next be heard in the Appropriations Committee.
The bill would not apply to situations such as occurred in Ventura County two years ago when videos of Oxnard cheerleaders were being sold on eBay, a spokesman for Smyth said. In that incident the pictures were not packaged with obscene material.
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.