Clark County schools also plagued by sexting issues

The problem of "sexting" has exploded in the Clark County School District in the past few years, said Edward Goldman, associate superintendent for educational services.

"At the beginning, boys would try to get a picture up the girl's skirt," Goldman said. "Now, the girls just send them the pictures."

Teenagers' habit of distributing nude self-portraits electronically is often called "sexting," if it's done by cell phone.

He said in recent years, the district has caught children in seventh-grade sharing photos, typically of their genitalia. In a few cases, students were sharing videos of each other having sexual intercourse. One student was caught selling images on his cell phone for $5.

The cases almost always come to the district's attention because parents or teachers find out about them. Administrators see between 20 and 30 cases a year, many of which result in recommendations for expulsion, he said.

The Clark County District Attorney's office has prosecuted minors for sex crimes involving cell phones, but Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Van Boskerck said he couldn't remember any cases where photos were sent consensually.

Those cases involved a student taking photos in a female locker room and a student videotaping a sex act.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.