2 Smithtown teens arrested in sexting case; 20 suspensions in Kings Park

Two 14-year-old Smithtown boys were arrested on felony charges of sending images of a sexual encounter that one of them had with an underage girl -- a cellphone "sexting" episode spread by students in neighboring Kings Park that caused about 20 suspensions there, police and school officials said Monday.

One of the arrested boys had engaged in an off-campus sexual encounter with a girl he knew as the other boy recorded the encounter on a cellphone, police said. The teenagers were not named because they are minors, and police would not release details.

The boys were charged with promoting a sexual performance by a child and disseminating indecent material to minors, both Class D felonies, and third-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor. They are scheduled to appear in Family Court at an unspecified date.

Smithtown, in a statement, identified the two boys as being in high school, but did not specify which of the district's two high schools they attend.

Kings Park Superintendent Timothy Eagen said Monday night that about 20 students had been suspended for periods of between one and five days. School officials got an anonymous tip Thursday about the images, and students were seen "huddled" around cellphones that day during lunch, he said.

Suspensions were given to boys and girls, Eagen said. Students who possessed or saw the images got lighter punishment; those who possessed and distributed them got up to five days' suspension, the superintendent said.

In a statement earlier, the district said it was looking into student involvement with "inappropriate" photos or videos at Kings Park High School and at William T. Rogers Middle School.

Two parents of Kings Park High students who were suspended told Newsday that about 40 teens there had been questioned.

Investigations are continuing in both districts, and school administrators said they are working with police.

Eagen and Smithtown Superintendent James Grossane issued statements stressing the hazards of teenagers sharing obscene images of themselves and others via electronic devices -- incidents that have emerged as a growing national problem.

"This is a serious legal matter for these students who may also face severe disciplinary consequences for violation of the district's code of conduct," Grossane said in a statement Monday.

Eagen posted a letter on the district's website Sunday urging parents to talk to their children about the perils of sharing indecent pictures via electronic devices.

"Often these images can never completely be deleted from the device. In addition, phone apps make the distribution of these images quick and easy," he wrote. "Once in the hands of social media, these pictures/videos can go viral, often resulting in serious implications."

Such "sexting" incidents -- described as an epidemic by some school counselors -- recently made national headlines in Canon City, Colorado. That's a quiet municipality of about 16,000 residents, located in scenic territory a two-hour drive south of Denver.

Authorities there disclosed at a news conference Friday that at least 100 students at Canon City High School had circulated nude pictures of themselves via cellphone. Some involved in the "selfie" exchanges were eighth-graders, officials said.

In New York, as in other states, distributing obscene images of minors generally is treated as a felony. A dilemma arises, legal experts have noted, when all those involved in such exchanges are minors themselves.

State law provides that young people found guilty of sending and receiving such images may be assigned to corrective education programs providing up to eight hours of instruction, rather than jailed. Such persons must be under 20 years of age, and within five years of age from one another.

The two Kings Park fathers who said that about 40 students had been questioned protested the manner in which the district had conducted its investigation.

Thomas Phelan, 50, of Kings Park, and Andrew Fenton, 49, of Fort Salonga, told Newsday that the district notified them Friday that their sons, both 10th-graders, had been suspended from classes for two days. Both parents criticized the district for questioning students and suspending some without first notifying parents that an investigation was underway.

Phelan said he was told by his son that he had heard of the cellphone incident from other students, but had not actually seen any indecent photos or videos himself.

"I'm a little upset about it, because my son is facing suspension as an unwitting participant," Phelan said.

Fenton, like Phelan, said he was convinced that his son had done nothing wrong. He added that school officials allowed his son to remain in class Monday after Fenton protested that he had received no formal notice of his son's suspension. But officials told him that notice would be served Tuesday, and that the suspension would begin then, he said.

Eagen said school officials have authority to question students during internal investigations without parents being present.

With Ellen Yan

and Tania Lopez

By John Hildebrand

john.hildebrand@newsday.com@johnhnewsday

John Hildebrand is Newsday's senior education writer and has covered school news and policy issues affecting Long Island for more than 40 years.