Students Arrested in Newtown High Sexting Case

Three Newtown High School students have been arrested and 20 others could have to do community service after a months-long police investigation into a sexting case in which some of the students sold the photos and videos, according to police.

The investigation began in May when police received reports of students at the Connecticut high school sharing sexually explicit photos and video.

At some point, school administrators were somehow made aware and police would spend six months investigating.

"I think the difficult lesson learned to all students is that every key stroke you're putting forward on technology, you own that for a lifetime," Newton public schools' superintendent Joseph Erardi said. 

Police said several boys and girls had created the photos and images of themselves outside of school, but then other students started getting them through Snapchat, Facetime, iMessage, Kik and other text messaging apps.

Several of the students were profiting on them by selling the photos and images, police said.

Three high school students were arrested on obscenity and child pornography charges.

"I think people need to know you shouldn't be sending pictures like that to begin with," Amanda Walsh, a Newtown senior, said. 

Twenty were referred to the juvenile review board, a community based program in which juveniles must do some kind of community service instead of going through the judicial system.

In October, Plainfield High School's varsity football team was barred from a game after some members were caught sharing sexual photos and videos in a group chat, officials said at the time.

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