Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska -- Sexting has become very popular in the last decade along with texting and social media use, but improper use may lead to legal consequences.
Sexting is the act of sending someone a sexually explicit text, image or video via text message. It produces the evidence of underlying fraternization, harassment and maltreatment, and directly contributes to sexual harassment, revenge porn and sextortion.
Sending
“Sometimes we think we are doing the right thing, with good intentions, but we don’t think about the impact,” said Tech. Sgt. Jessica Tabor, 673d Air Base Wing Equal Opportunity noncommissioned officer in charge.
Consent is essential for any sexual act and that includes sexting. Sending a sexually suggestive message or lewd, nude image without consent is non-verbal sexual harassment. This is commonly referring to the classic ‘dick pic,’ but encompasses all unwelcomed sexual advances.
In the Department of Defense, more than 116,000 people reported sexual harassment in the past year. Individuals who have been sexually harassed have a higher rate of being sexually assaulted, said Tabor. About one in three sexual assault victims report their perpetrator harassing them beforehand.
This does not mean that sexting leads to assault, but is a contributing factor to assault and more.
“Sexting isn’t a crime under the [Uniform Code of Military Justice], however, it can be evidence for a lot of other different types of crimes,” said Air Force Capt. Amanda Goodwin, 673d Air Base Wing Chief of Military Justice.
In 2011, a command chief was accused and sentenced to a reduction in rank to E-1, dishonorable discharge and confinement for four months for maltreatment.
Maltreatment is inappropriately treating somebody who is subject to your orders. Any type of repeated offense, deliberate comments or gestures of a sexual nature that affect the physical and/or mental wellbeing of a subordinate is considered maltreatment.
In this case, the command chief was pursuing sexual relations with two E-4s to include exchanging lewd and nude images with him. One E-4 sent a nude image of herself to the chief. When asked why in court, she replied, ‘Chief told me, if I helped him, he could help me.’
Misuse
“Anything you post on social media or send via text, you are personally responsible for that content,” Goodwin said. “[Air Force Instruction 1-1 paragraph 2.15] talks about the obligation to maintain appropriate communication, this is with all military members, civilians, on social media and any type of communication.”
All military members are subject to UCMJ Article 120c: Other Sexual Misconduct which states, “any person subject to this chapter who intentionally exposes, in an indecent manner, the genitalia, anus, buttocks, or female areola or nipple is guilty of indecent exposure and shall by punished as a court-martial may direct.”
This is directly applicable to the recent ‘Marines United’ Facebook scandal. Military members were sharing explicit pictures of women, military and civilian.
Article 120c also applies to the recording and broadcasting of explicit footage or imagery of a party who did not consent. This means, if someone acquires a sext and then shares it without the subject’s permission it is against the UCMJ.
Revenge Porn
The UCMJ has no articles against revenge porn, but Alaska does. The Alaska Statute 11.61.120 Harassment in the 2nd Degree can be charged to an individual who has the intent to harass, harm, bully another by sharing images of them lewd, nude, or engaged in a sexual act.
This can be done by someone who received sexts consensually and then decided to share them without the sender’s permission with mal intent.
“What are the victim’s options? Call the crisis hotline, talk to EO, victim advocates, SARC, and see what your options are,” said Air Force Capt. Jonathan Henley, Air Force Special Victims Unit special victims’ unit. “If the unfortunate reality [is that] the image has gone onto the internet there are options, albeit limited. You could only really minimize.”
If the image or recording makes it onto an adult porn website, some site administrators will take it down if requested. Other admins are not so kind. Luckily, there is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This act allows an individual to send a formalized request to take down an image due to copyright.
“However, you have to send the copyright office of the United States those very same images of you naked … to get them copyrighted and removed from other websites, which will take a lot of time and effort,” Henley said. “How ridiculous does that sound?”
Sextortion
Blackmail in the form of extorting someone with sexual information, images, or video is called sextortion. JBER has experienced four cases as of 2017.
A common is usually a young male enlisted member catfished by a social media account like Facebook, Instagram, Tinder or Kik. The perpetrator will try to entice sexting as soon as possible. When the perpetrator has the material needed to blackmail, the victim would be bled dry until they are broke and then the images are released anyway.
“The bottom line is the images and videos will be released and you will never get your money back … the Army, the Air Force, nobody can get your money back,” said U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command Special Agent Anthony Christianson.
The best option for anyone in this scenario is to not pay the perpetrator, Christianson said. After identifying sextortion stop all communication with the perpetrator, do not send any more photos, do not pay them anything, cover up your webcams in case of hackers, and go up the chain of command to include reporting to OSI or CID.
There are many negative consequences to sexting and the only real prevention is to not do it at all. Even if the sender is a consenting adult, the receiver might not be. Some people do not want sexts; others may have malicious intent. Military members have a lot at stake sexting; a moment of satisfaction is not worth a career.