The state Legislative Task Force on Abused and Neglected Children scrapped proposed legislation on Friday that would specifically target minors’ “sexting” in favor of a bill that would instead educate youths to avoid such behavior.

The proposed legislation focused on people who are 18 years old or younger and sexting, or sending explicit digital material to another person.

Lenore Paladino, an investigator at the Internet Crimes Against Children Division with the Arkansas State Police, said that between Nov. 21, 2011, and Oct. 31, the division investigated 562 child pornography reports, 176 of which were found to be self-produced child pornography.

“We have been receiving, all over the country, every [Internet crimes against children division] in thecountry, has been receiving huge numbers of reports on self-production,” Paladino said.

Paladino said that with the easy availability of digital cameras and Web cameras and the proliferation of social networking websites, it has become easier for children to post and share explicit images of themselves.

But she said the division does not prosecute children in such cases, unless the child repeatedly posts explicit images. Instead, she said investigators will send e-mails to the offenders, stating that what they have done is a felony and that they should stop.

“You should see the look on their faces when you tell them they’ve committed a felony,” Paladino said.

Although the investigative unit supports legislation that would allow prosecuting repeat offenders who ignore warnings, Paladino saidtime and resources were limited and that the unit should focus on child predators.

“Right now the idea of criminalizing this is not part of our mission and is not what we want to see done,” Paladino said. “We want to put those people away who are actually preying on our children, spend time on those cases with the people who are actually preying on our children and educate these kids, who can go out and educate other kids and let them know ‘Hey, you can’tdo this, you’re going to get caught, someone’s going to tell on you.’”

Lisa McGee, an attorney with the Department of Human Services, agreed that the bill should be scrapped for legislation that outlines educational programs for children about not sharing or publishing explicit images of themselves. She said she would work with other employees at the department to draft such legislation.

Sen. Percy Malone, DArkadelphia, co-chairman of the task force, said after the meeting that the group seeks to punish child predators. The goal is to protectand educate children - not prosecute them.

“The main goal is to see what we can do to curtail, or get some handle on, what’s going on,” Malone said. “It is for educational purposes, that’s one thing, to get education out, and then to separate these young people who are doing dumb things from the adults who are preying on the fact that these children are texting.”

During the meeting, the task force considered other proposals, including specifying the amount of time for mandatory reporters to notify the child-abuse hot line of suspected abuse andextending the life of the task force, which, by law, “shall cease to exist on June 30, 2013,” the date set when the group was created.

Malone said at the meeting that the task force has shaped how the state educates children and adults about child abuse and how agencies respond to those cases. He said he believes many senators and representatives will want to allow the group to continue.

“You guys [have been] doing a phenomenal job changing the face of Arkansas for children in Arkansas the last six or eight years,” Malone said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 11/17/2012