VAN BUREN - A teen sex video has two 15-year-old boys in big trouble after one filmed the other engaging in an act with a 13-year-old girl. Police say it was consensual, but that doesn't mean it is legal.
Police say the alleged sex act was recorded on a cell phone at one of the teen's homes on February 9th. Three days later the teen that captured the act on his cell phone began showing and sharing the video with fellow students at Coleman Junior High. School officials were alerted to the recording and immediately involved the school resource officer. Investigators interviewed the half dozen or so students who saw the video and retrieved any copies that had been sent to student cell phones. Police believe that was limited to a few because of the file's size.
Just when officials thought they had contained the copies, Friday they learned that it had been posted to an internet website. The pornographic site allows individuals to upload their own videos. The prosecutor's office acted immediately to have it removed.
Lt. Brent Grill says the 15-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl engaged in the alleged act were aware that it was being recorded. However, because the girl is under the age of consent, the two boys are being charged with "employing or consenting to the use of a child in a sexual performance" which is a Class C felony in the state of Arkansas. They will be tried as juveniles.
"It's a growing problem apparently," Lt. Brent Grill with the Van Buren Police Department told 5NEWS. "It's the 1st investigation we're been investigation in here at the Van Buren Police Department things of this nature and we want people to be aware that these types of things are happening and in this case here it is a violation of the law."
One teen was arrested Tuesday morning. The other will turn himself in on Thursday. Both have been suspended from school.
Police say the alleged sex act was recorded on a cell phone at one of the teen's homes on February 9th. Three days later the teen that captured the act on his cell phone began showing and sharing the video with fellow students at Coleman Junior High. School officials were alerted to the recording and immediately involved the school resource officer. Investigators interviewed the half dozen or so students who saw the video and retrieved any copies that had been sent to student cell phones. Police believe that was limited to a few because of the file's size.
Just when officials thought they had contained the copies, Friday they learned that it had been posted to an internet website. The pornographic site allows individuals to upload their own videos. The prosecutor's office acted immediately to have it removed.
Lt. Brent Grill says the 15-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl engaged in the alleged act were aware that it was being recorded. However, because the girl is under the age of consent, the two boys are being charged with "employing or consenting to the use of a child in a sexual performance" which is a Class C felony in the state of Arkansas. They will be tried as juveniles.
"It's a growing problem apparently," Lt. Brent Grill with the Van Buren Police Department told 5NEWS. "It's the 1st investigation we're been investigation in here at the Van Buren Police Department things of this nature and we want people to be aware that these types of things are happening and in this case here it is a violation of the law."
One teen was arrested Tuesday morning. The other will turn himself in on Thursday. Both have been suspended from school.
