Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Senate has passed a bill to lessen the penalties for sexting by middle and high school students in hopes that prosecutors will be willing to combat the practice.
The vote Tuesday was 40-0. The bill goes next to the House, and its members approved their own version of the legislation earlier this month.
Both measures focus on 12- to 18-year-olds accused of transmitting images of a nude child. Under existing state law, prosecutors are restricted to filing a felony charge that carries a prison sentence up to 11 years and four months and lifetime registration as a sex offender.
Both chambers’ bills make a first offense by someone 18 or younger a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail.
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