WATCH ABOVE: Following the case of Laval teenagers charged with possessing and distributing child pornography Thursday, the school board has responded saying it hopes the case serves as a lesson to other students. Rachel Lau reports.
LAVAL – It’s a case of child pornography, produced and distributed by children. Though it may seem shocking, Laval police say it’s happened before – just never on this scale.
“This is our first case, however, where a group of known individuals were sharing together multiple files and were arrested simultaneously,” said Constable Frederic Jean with the Laval Police.
Ten boys, ranging in age from 13 to 15-years-old are charged with production, distribution and possession of child pornography.
They allegedly coaxed friends and girlfriends into posing for pictures they later shared.
Friday, the school board says it hopes the case serves as a lesson to other students.
“I hope this unfortunate incident leads to support for people who may be experiencing intimidation,” said Stephanie Vucko, Director General of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board.
“Go see a trusted adult at school, at home, your parents. Someone will listen.”
The photos were originally sent to the boys over an app called SnapChat.
It sends a photo that can only be seen for a few seconds before disappearing, but that doesn’t stop the person who receives the photo from taking a screen shot of the image.
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The boys claim they shared the pictures not for sexual exploitation, but for a good laugh.
“What happens is the victim is dehumanized so all the girls in the photographs just become sexual objects,” explained Shaheen Shariff, a McGill professor with the Department of Integrated Studies in Education.
“There’s a bit of a rape culture, which is modelled by adult society, as well. That’s an issue.”
The Director General of the school board agrees the issue is much greater than simply teens misbehaving. It’s a problem of extreme intimidation and bullying.
“We want to ensure that students and parents are prepared to deal with 21st century issues,” said Vucko. “In this case intimidation is not new, but the use of technology facilitates certain practices that weren’t there in the past.”
It’s not clear yet what kind of criminal sentences the boys could face if they’re convicted.
“These crimes are fairly new so there aren’t exactly a standard first offence sentence for these cases,” said Jean.
“In this case we’re dealing with suspects that are, accused I should say, that are 13 to 15 years old.”
The boys will be back in court January 20th.
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