Could I get into trouble for sexting?

Both adults and teens use ‘sexting’ to flirt, further a relationship, to experiment, to communicate feelings and often as a way to show trust in one another. Sexting includes sending sexual words, images, or videos over digital media. Sexting can feel like a way to own your body, and some people may try sexting as a way to explore their sexuality. It may feel safer because it’s not in-person.

But sexting comes with risks, even if sexts are sent and received consensually. As with any sexual activity, no one should send or receive a sext because they feel threatened or manipulated in any way. When received or shared without consent, sexual images and messages are a form of harassment and/or abuse.

Is it okay to sext with someone else my own age?

Sexts to or from anyone under 18 are illegal.

It’s important to understand that anyone can be charged with the crime of posession of child sexual abuse material if they have sexually explicit photos, videos or other material of a person under 18. So no matter how old someone is, if they receive sexual abuse images, they could be charged with a crime - even if the person sending the images is their girlfriend or boyfriend, and sent them willingly.

Bottom line: it is illegal for anyone – under or over 18 – to possess, create, send, or receive sexually explicit images or videos involving anyone under 18.

What are other risks to sexting?

There are some other serious risks in sexting, and having accurate information about these risks can help you make decisions about your own sexting behavior.

Once your videos or images are sent to others, you have no control over who sees them or where they go. They could end up on social media, other places on the internet or sent to other people. Often people who sext expect the content of their sext to only be shared with the person they are sending it to, but, in fact, a study that looked at teen sexting behaviors found that 1 in 3 teens have seen a non-consensually shared nude photo of another youth. It is unlikely that the young person whose nude photo was being shared gave consent to have their photo spread around. And there is no way to stop the sharing - that photo now has a life of its own on the internet and can be there forever. Having personal content shared on the internet can have a long-term emotional toll, and additionally often leads to harassment, bullying, and manipulation when other people discover the photo.

If you do decide that you are going to either send or receive sexts, it is important that you feel confident that you can trust the person that you are sexting with, and understand the risks that come with sharing photos of yourself so that you can make an informed decision.

Check out our Blog “My girlfriend sent me nudes and I didn’t realize that was against the law; what do I do now?” and reach out to our Helpline with any questions or concerns.

Sexting between adults is legal, but it’s not risk-free.

If you are both 18 years or older, then it is legal for you both to make the decision to send sexual images or videos to each other. The other risks that we talked about are still something to consider, though. It may be important to talk about this boundary with your partner, or anyone that you’re having sex with or sharing images with, so that it’s clear you both understand the risks and legalities of sexting.

Sexts to and from anyone under age 18 are illegal.

Above we talked about some of the risks of sexting with peers, including having your images or videos being shared with others and/or posted on the internet. Here, we expand a little more on sexting and relevant legal information.

It’s OK to engage in safe sexual behaviors! In this blog, answering this question specifically, we focus on the legality and long-term safety of sharing sexually explicit photos.

In the U.S., any sexual content involving someone under 18 is illegal and is considered child sexual abuse material (CSAM), once called child pornography. So exchanging sexts with someone under 18 can certainly put you at risk of facing consequences. This is true even if you are both under 18.

U.S. federal law states that a minor cannot legally give consent to be in these types of images or videos – regardless of state ages of consent. This also means that a minor who takes sexually explicit photos or videos of themself can be charged with the crime of self-generated child sexual abuse material (SG-CSAM).

The penalties for having or sharing such images or video may include:

• Fines or community service

• Counseling

• Probation

• Youth detention or adult incarceration (depending on your age)

• Sex offender registration - state and federal listings of individual convicted of sexual offenses

What is safe sexting?

You’re here because you are asking some really great questions, and we hope that this will help you to decide the best way to manage this in your relationships. If you decide to sext, you should be sure you trust the person that you are sexting with and understand the risks that come with sharing photos of yourself so that you can make an informed decision. 

Although there can be a lot of pressure to share this kind of content with your peers, and it may seem like everyone is doing it - this isn’t something to take lightly and there are very real consequences for minors and adults.  Having this knowledge about sexting can be a powerful tool, and help you to have open conversations with friends, romantic partners or sexual partners. 

Want to talk more? Our helpline counselors are here to help you sort out tough situations around healthy sexuality, relationships and consent. Contact us with your question.