Sexting leads to suspensions, investigation at Colorado high school — VIDEO

DENVER — Widespread circulation of hundreds of sexually explicit photos among students at a Colorado high school via text messages has triggered a criminal investigation, multiple suspensions and the forfeiture of a football game, officials said on Friday.

Authorities in Canon City, about 90 miles southwest of Denver, said at a news conference that following a tip, nude, semi-nude or sexually suggestive images were uncovered at the 1,100-student Canon City High School.

Canon City Police Chief Paul Schultz said investigators seized a phone containing "several hundred" inappropriate photographs from a student at Canon City High School.

"We will be attempting to identify the people and make our best determination if there have been any violations of the law," Schultz said.

Canon City School Superintendent George Welsh said the district has previously dealt with sexting, the exchange of inappropriate messages or pictures over social media via a smart phone.

"There isn't a school in the United States that hasn't dealt with the issue of sexting," Welsh said. "What's different about this is that it's large scale."

Welsh said the school has suspended multiple students, but citing privacy laws, declined to provide further details.

Schultz said investigators are waiting for search warrants before viewing the images, but school officials did look at them because they are allowed wider latitude to search items on school property.

Welsh said once he became aware of the issue on Monday, he gave the district's athletic director and the school's football coach 24 hours to assure him that no football players were involved, which they could not do.

"We then made the decision to forfeit the game," he said, which was the team's final game of the season.

Fremont County District Attorney Tom LeDoux said once the investigation is substantially completed in about 30 days, his office will decide whether any criminal charges are warranted.

If any of the students are over 18, they could face adult rather than juvenile charges where the penalties are stiffer, LeDoux said, adding that each instance will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Aggravating factors that could determine whether charges are filed include whether any sexual contact was involved, whether anyone was coerced into taking photos, or whether there was any threats of retaliation for reporting the incident, he said.

"We're not aware that any of those things have happened ... It's possible no criminal charges could be filed," LeDoux said.