County Attorney’s Office press release
The Henderson County Attorney’s Office purchased and presented to Henderson County Sheriff’s Sex Crimes Investigator, Nick Webb, a new iPad. The iPad will be dedicated and used in the investigation of crimes against children in the county.
With the increased popularity of social networking and use of the Internet, law enforcement investigators timely access to social media content has become paramount in solving and prosecuting cases. According to statewide statistics, 84 percent of rural Texas investigations involve some sort of online investigations. Investigator’s use social networking sites to gather corroborating evidence, locate or monitor a person of interests whereabouts, view statements made by suspects or by victims, review associates affiliated with persons of interests, use the information found to anticipate and prevent future crimes, and also use information obtained from social media as probable cause to obtain search warrants. Statistics also show that when challenged, warrants based upon social media are generally upheld. Texas courts have generally held that a person has no expectation or right to privacy over things that are transmitted over the internet and therefore, what can be obtained by law enforcement is generally admissible as evidence in criminal proceedings.
With respect to the County Attorney’s Office, investigators often gather and use evidence in misdemeanor crimes such as sexual assaults committed by juveniles, as well misdemeanor crimes which are committed by both adults and juveniles such as: stalking, harassment, threats, and the electronic transmission of certain visual material depicting a minor. In addition to these crimes, the Texas legislature a few years back created a new offense of Improper Photography or Visual Recording. Under this statute of the Texas Penal Code, a person commits an offense if they photograph, videotape, or broadcast or transmit a visual image of another without the person’s consent and with the intent to invade the person’s privacy or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.
County Attorney Clint Davis says that these cases come up more than people would think are more likely to involve younger people. A common scenario, is that a juvenile takes an illicit photo of themselves and sends to their significant other or someone that they are in a relationship with. When the relationship goes south or there is a disagreement between the two, the other person then transmits the private photo to others or posts online on a social networking site with the intent of harassing or embarrassing the other person. This can lead to the person who disseminated the material being charged with a crime.
Davis adds that juveniles often do not fully comprehend or understand the fact that once a digital image has been created and transmitted over the internet, it leaves a footprint that is there forever. With technology today, we have the ability to retrieve images from phones, iPads, computers or other electronic devices that can never be deleted by a user. There are popular apps such as Snapchat, which is a social networking site wherein pictures are transmitted to others, but the receiver can only view the picture for a period of seconds before it disappears from their view. Kids are under the false impression that the photo just disappears after the few seconds that it appears on screen. When the reality is, that picture can often be retrieved and re-broadcast or used improperly by others at some point in the future.
People do and post things online that they would never do or say in person, and they do so without realizing the consequences, and changing this begins with a greater awareness and understanding of what the consequences can be.