Police: Charges likely after high schoolers alter pornographic image to include classmates
Students at a Southern Indiana high school are under a police investigation over a pornographic photo that was shared electronically depicting two male classmates having sex with each other.
Two male students, both freshmen at Silver Creek High School, have already been suspended from school. The matter was referred to Sellersburg police, the school district said.
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Police Chief Russ Whelan said Thursday that “if things go as expected, (the case) should be in the prosecutor’s hands by the end of the week. I do expect charges to be filed.”
He said anybody who makes such an image or shares it is breaking the law.
The students who were suspended and those who were depicted in the video are not being identified because they are juveniles. No charges have been filed.
The picture was a scene from a pornographic video and was photoshopped to include the faces of two boys from the school. It was sent to students at the school starting Jan. 24, according to documents obtained by The Courier Journal.
The two students who are accused of making the picture were suspended for 10 days and have since returned to school, documents show. No students who have shared the photo have been disciplined by the district.
“I’m not aware of it still being shared but if it is, we will respond the way we did initially,” Silver Creek Superintendent Chad Briggs said, indicating Sellersburg Police would be called again.
“Porn with a child is a crime, it’s not only just against school rules,” he added.
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The school’s leadership had not addressed the student body about the incident as of Thursday, Briggs said, nor are they required to do so. According to the school’s handbook, bullying can result in detention, suspension or expulsion and while the school did discipline the two students, one expert said that isn’t enough.
Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and Professor of Criminology at Florida Atlantic University, said that targets of cyberbullying face secondary victimization when authorities "fall short," of addressing the traumatic experience and ensuring the target doesn't feel dismissed.
"The discipline action comes first, but then you have to think 'What else needs to be done to prevent this from happening again?'" he said.
"I think about assemblies, programming related to cultural sensitivity, curriculum," he said about the different ways the school could respond.
Given the photo is still being shared, the school's leadership should understand that this repetitive aspect of the bullying can be retraumatizing for the victims, he said. He pointed to the fact that bullying has been labeled as an adverse childhood experience by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and that schools should be aware that there are several negative outcomes a victim could face after being bullied.
"This school needs to catch up with the times," he said about realizing the possible lasting impact this event could have on the victims.
Absenteeism, truancy, low self-esteem, behavioral problems and self-harm are among a few of the outcomes Hinduja listed.
"It is a big deal," he said of the photo that was created and circulated.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Cyberbullying? Silver Creek students investigated over porn image
