UPDATE: On Thurs. July 10, police in Virginia said they no longer will pursue efforts to take sexually explicit photos of a 17-year-old in an effort to prove a sexting case against him.
TORONTO – A lawyer representing a U.S. teen accused of sexting a video to his girlfriend says police want to take photos of the 17-year-old’s erect penis.
In January, the teen was charged with manufacturing and distributing child pornography after exchanging text messages with his then-15-year-old girlfriend, NBC reports.
The young man’s electronic devices were seized and he was taken to a local jail.
Stacy Bigley, the accused’s aunt, told NBC her nephew was stripped and photographed while in custody.
Earlier this month, a Virginia judge reportedly signed off on a search warrant for police to take more photos of the teen’s erect penis to compare evidence.
The teen’s lawyer told the Washington Post that prosecutors are threatening to take his client to a hospital for an injection, forcing him to have an erection.
“The prosecutor’s job is to seek justice,” the teen’s defence lawyer told the Post. “What is just about this? How does this advance the interest of the Commonwealth?
“My goal is to stop the search warrant. I don’t want him to go through that. Taking him down to the hospital so he can get an erection in front of all those cops, that’s traumatizing.”
If convicted, the teen faces jail time and could be forced to register as a sex offender.
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