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Ahead Of New N.J. Law, Gloucester County Prosecutor Holds 'Sexting' Education Session

By Dan Wing

GLOUCESTER Co., N.J. (CBS) -- The Gloucester County Prosecutor's office held a free education session Monday night focused on cyber topics such as sexting, cyber bullying, and other online and handheld dangers.

Spurring the conference is NJ's new law that takes effect April 1st, giving courts another option when prosecuting juveniles arrested for sexting.

Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton says the new law would give courts the option of entering a first time offender into an educational program instead of an automatic conviction for distributing Child Pornography.

But, Dalton adds, that not enough people, both old and young, are educated about the consequences of sexting or posting photos online.

"An individual who sends a nude photo, whether it be of themselves or someone else, is possibly distributing child pornography. So it's not just the recipient and what they do with it, but its the person who creates the photo as well."

As with most situations, Dalton says the most important thing for parents to do is have open conversations with their children regarding the dangers of modern technology.

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