Georiga State Supreme Court Overturns ‘Sexting’ Charge

WABE’s Rose Scott has more on the ruling.

Broadcast version of this story.

In December of 2012, Charles Leo Warren, III sent a text message via cell phone to Shari Watson.

That text message contained a photo of Warren’s tattooed genitals.

According to authorities it was an unsolicited picture.

Warren was arrested and charged with distribution of material depicting nudity.

But his attorneys argued that there’s no current Georgia law that Warren violated.

In fact the law that Warren was prosecuted under is from 1970 and basically deals with sending material through the mail.

Atlanta based criminal defense attorney Steve Scarborough says the state’s high court had no choice but to overturn the criminal charge.

“What the court was essentially saying was, hey it doesn’t matter if this is distasteful behavior, I think we all agree it was. But, the terms of the statute don’t cover what this gentleman did and so it’s not legitimate to criminalize it unless the legislature has said very specifically it’s a wrongful act.”

Chief Justice Hugh Thompson wrote the court’s opinion.

Scarborough says Warren’s charge related to sending unsolicited material through the mail.

“For example, you could send this kind of material depicting nudity if there was an indication on the envelope of the material that it contained.”

That’s in order, “to give somebody fair warning and not to look at it if they didn’t want to, “says Scarborough.

Scarborough says the state Supreme Court’s ruling will probably force lawmakers to clearly draft language that will stand up to unconstitutional claims.

“Laws that were written for the age of print and paper, don’t always fit the circumstances of the modern day when we have technology, mobile phones and the internet.”

Right now a current bill making its way through the General Assembly is House Bill 838.

Called the revenge sexting bill, it prohibits someone from sending nude photos through photography or video as a means of retaliation.