Naked Image Sent to a 10-Year-Old Child

My question involves criminal law for the state of: MA
Someone sent a picture of their erection to my 10 year old. It may have been a mistake, although this person has one other questionable occurrence in the past.
My question is, if it was sent in error, is it still a crime?
Thanks

Why are you even asking. Report it and let the police and prosecutor determine if it is a crime.

Really? I feel a bit like my head is in a vat of Jello.
The sender is my spouse, her father, and we're in middle of a divorce, and I don't get the perv vibe from him regarding our kids.
1. My initial impression is it must have been done in error - though it caused harm because my child received the photo.
2. My 2nd impression was to recall a communication I discovered between my spouse and an apparent teen (looked teenage in photos) propositioning her.
3. My 3rd impression is I'm angry my child was hurt, regardless of intent.
4. My 4th impression is I'm confused because my own history makes these lines fuzzy.
5. My 5th set of thoughts relate to implications of either reporting or not reporting given context of a divorce. Maybe it will be seen as me trying to harm him for personal gain if I report. Maybe it will be seen as me protecting him if I don't report. It's messy.

If others see this as a clear black and white, as you seem to jk, please let me know.

Also, is it the police that I should call, or child protective services?

GAWD. I understand why you are conflicted. However the reality of things is that you need to report this. Whether it was an error or not he sent his own daughter a picture of his penis...and it does appear that he possibly is doing that sort of thing with other minor females.

You are not going to be seen as you trying to report him for personal gain. He actually DID it.

Thanks ll, I think I'm leaning toward reporting and letting someone else sort it out. It's not really my job, or my burden, to figure out. I think I'll do it in the morning.

Quote:

---

Quoting Wordshaker

---

Thanks ll, I think I'm leaning toward reporting and letting someone else sort it out. It's not really my job, or my burden, to figure out. I think I'll do it in the morning.

---

I really think that is wise.

If it truly was a mistake, and you involved the police, chances are the police will not be able to determine if it was a mistake, nor will they care. They will see that a crime was committed and prosecute it. And if they do, his life is over as he knew it.

He deserves to be asked before involving the big guns of the law. His life could be ruined over this. You know him better than the police do. Use your intuition and knowledge first. The police are always there to fall back on.

Has he been a good father? Has ever exposed himself to your daughter before? Was the girl he was hitting on online really of age or declaring she was of age? Who hasn't sent a text to the wrong person? Think about the implications before handing it over to the police.

I do not agree with you. He would have caught on fairly quickly that he sent it to the wrong person, and should have been franticly trying to get mom or someone else to delete it before his daughter saw it. The fact that he did not tells me that at least he is not at all careful about what he is doing.

Mom could end up in a world of hurt herself if the information comes out and she didn't report it.

Quote:

---

Quoting llworking

---

Mom could end up in a world of hurt herself if the information comes out and she didn't report it.

---

The potential danger would be that if there were a later protective services investigation of dad, and this incident came out, then mom might be accused of failing to protect.

If the statement, "given context of a divorce", means that there is presently an ongoing divorce case, then the person to raise this with is mom's lawyer, and mom's lawyer can advise on whether to raise the issue only in that context, or whether mom should also consider reporting the incident to the police or protective services. The lawyer can best assess whether it would make more sense to first seek an explanation before deciding how to proceed.

Regarding: "He would have caught on fairly quickly that he sent it to the wrong person, and should have been franticly trying to get mom or someone else to delete it before his daughter saw it. The fact that he did not tells me that at least he is not at all careful about what he is doing."

Thank you llworking, I think you nailed this point. There is something very lacking and very wrong in the fact that he did nothing about it. Very observant.

It is therefor perhaps unsurprising that this event is part of a larger pattern of reckless abuses of boundaries by him. These behaviors hurt others and hurt our children in direct and indirect ways. He berates and shames them, he screams at them and frightens them, he unloads (false) adult content on them to humiliate and/or reduce me in their estimation, he imposes movies on them they are not comfortable with, he doesn't honor bedtimes or their need to rest or eat in any terms that differ from his own impulses.

I don't believe it matters what I think, and in any case I'm on the fence. Perhaps it's more probable he intended to text his photo to someone else, but he feels no real concern if it accidentally goes to our child, and he has no boundaries that separate the behaviors of chatting with his kids and engaging in virtual sexual petting with young women at the same time. ...And no boundaries concerning the ages of those women. I don't rule out the possibility he is a perv, but I'm taking a rational watchful stand on it.

Quote:

---

Quoting Wordshaker

---

Really? I feel a bit like my head is in a vat of Jello.
The sender is my spouse, her father, and we're in middle of a divorce, and I don't get the perv vibe from him regarding our kids.
1. My initial impression is it must have been done in error - though it caused harm because my child received the photo.
2. My 2nd impression was to recall a communication I discovered between my spouse and an apparent teen (looked teenage in photos) propositioning her.
3. My 3rd impression is I'm angry my child was hurt, regardless of intent.
4. My 4th impression is I'm confused because my own history makes these lines fuzzy.
5. My 5th set of thoughts relate to implications of either reporting or not reporting given context of a divorce. Maybe it will be seen as me trying to harm him for personal gain if I report. Maybe it will be seen as me protecting him if I don't report. It's messy.

If others see this as a clear black and white, as you seem to jk, please let me know.

Also, is it the police that I should call, or child protective services?

---

Who cares who sent it? Report it and let the police sort it out. If you don't, it's quite possible this could come back and bite you. If ANYONE sent my child an inappropriate photo I would definitely report it to the police.

Quote:

---

Quoting Brian57

---

If it truly was a mistake, and you involved the police, chances are the police will not be able to determine if it was a mistake, nor will they care. They will see that a crime was committed and prosecute it. And if they do, his life is over as he knew it.

He deserves to be asked before involving the big guns of the law. His life could be ruined over this. You know him better than the police do. Use your intuition and knowledge first. The police are always there to fall back on.

Has he been a good father? Has ever exposed himself to your daughter before? Was the girl he was hitting on online really of age or declaring she was of age? Who hasn't sent a text to the wrong person? Think about the implications before handing it over to the police.

---

Nope I'd hand it over to the police. Just because she never saw him act inappropriately to their child doesn't mean he hasn't to another child or a teen.

I have never sent a picture of my genitals to anyone that's for damn sure. Written text - sure. That's a big difference than a picture of someone's erect penis.