BY KEITH EPPS
A 16-year-old Stafford County boy is being investigated for having "sexually explicit" pictures of a 15-year-old girl on his cell phone, court records show.
If the investigation results in charges, the boy would become the first person in the county arrested for "sexting," or sending and receiving nude pictures via cell phones.
According to an affidavit for a search warrant filed in Stafford Circuit Court, a school resource officer at Brooke Point High School was contacted by a parent who found sexually suggestive pictures on her daughter's cell phone.
Some of the pictures were of her daughter and others portrayed an 18-year-old man the woman knows.
The parents showed the pictures to Deputy Carol Burgess and gave Burgess the cell phone. Some of the pictures of the girl meet the state code's definition of child pornography, Detective Darryl Wells wrote.
Burgess also saw text messages showing that the girl had transmitted at least one of the pictures to the 16-year-old boy, court records state.
The boy admitted receiving pictures from the girl, the affidavit states. He also told Burgess he had similar pictures of six other girls on his phone and more in e-mails on his home computer.
Burgess took the phone. The boy's mother initially offered to bring the computer in to be examined, but changed her mind and said "get a search warrant."
Police went to the boy's home in Aquia Harbour Thursday and seized a number of items, including computers, cameras, cell phones, iPods, game systems and compact discs.
The only actual area arrests involving sexting occurred earlier this year in Spotsylvania County.
Two male county students, ages 18 and 15, were charged with possession of child pornography with intent to distribute and electronic solicitation.
Those felony cases are still pending.
Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
Email: kepps@freelancestar.com