A high school quarterback is being charged with having “naked pictures of a minor” on his cell phone. But that minor is himself. That’s right, 17-year-old Cormega Copening, and his girlfriend are facing “sexting” charges, but he is actually being charged with having illicit photos of himself.
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said the charges stem from an incident last October. This led to charges against the couple last February.
Robby Soave, writing for Reason says, “one of the minors he supposedly exploited is himself—which raises an obvious question: how can a teen be old enough to face adult felony charges, but not old enough to keep a nude picture of himself on his phone?”
Investigators say that the “sexting” incident occurred while Copening was a student at Douglas Byrd High School last year.
“We seized his phone and while our investigators went through the phone they saw there were photos of himself and another person on the phone,” Sgt. Sean Swain of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said.
Swain added that in North Carolina, if you have a photo of anyone underage, it is a crime.
“Simple possession having it on your cell phone is a charge itself, and if you should send it out to another person that is another charge,” he added.
Leon Mack, the director of student activities for the Cumberland County Schools, defended the students, saying that “both Douglas Byrd and Jack Britt high schools did not violate eligibility requirements, and that neither school was made aware of the felony charges against the student.”
If Copening is convicted, he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life… again, for having naked images of himself.
That is because “North Carolina is one of two states in the country (the other is progressive New York) that considers 16 to be the age of adulthood for criminal purposes,” Soave notes. “This mean, of course, that Copening can be tried as an adult for exploiting a minor—himself.”
Watch the local report below…
http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/09/teen-boy-charged-as-adult/
“If Copening is convicted, he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life… again, for having naked images of himself.”
https://youtu.be/NAWL8ejf2nM
I think we’ve reached this point.
Second story I’ve heard like this. Know where this is going?
Because this arrest is absurd, there will be some debate, which will result in a new law, or an old one being changed, which would allow kids to photograph themselves however they want to, including nude if that’s what they want to do.
This will put an end to what’s now known as “kiddie porn”, which will soon be peddled as a child exercising his right to free expression. Within a few years, there will be magazines full of photos of naked kids at your local news stand, and they’ll attempt the “pedophiles are normal” claim again.
Sounds crazy? Save this link, and read it again in a few years, when the shrinks are insisting that pedophilia is just a lifestyle choice, and you’re wrong and oppressive for trying to prevent your ten year-old daughter (or son) from dating older men.
“Sounds crazy?”
Ludicrous crazy. But you’re right.
This case is the tip of the iceberg.
Kids and teens are making hard-core self porn by the thousands, all over the world, and trading them like baseball cards.
And what about foreign kids trading with american kids? Is america to extradite thousands of foreign kids for ‘kiddie porn’?
This is one huge genie that’s been unleashed through the technology.
No way to stop this without taking away the phones and turning off the internet, which isn’t going to happen. With the world economy taking a dump, no one has any money nor will to tackle this one.
What to do? Putting them all in prison is ludicrous and so is ruining their life saying they’re sex offenders, because they’re not.
Another problem is that the kids are becoming very tech savvy. And since snowden they begin to explore encryption, dark-net, tor…etc.
I also read a report where kids (world-wide) are performing directly for pedos online for money. They get paid in bitcoin and shop online.
I agree with you JR, they’ll make it legal stating it’s personal art and no one is harmed or coerced…then they’ll tax it.
Welcome to the worldwide online digital babylon.
This is one hell of a conundrum.
-flek
And another thing , if he’s wrongfully convicted
What does he lose ? His second amendment rights , as far as they play the game
The bogus charges that are getting leveled at people lately is a back door gun grab