Manassas City Police have threatened to forcefully take photos of a 17-year-old’s erect penis.
Prosecutors told the defendant he must plead guilty or police would get a search warrant to the take the pictures. This process would potentially involve taking him to a hospital and giving him an injection.
The defendant is facing charges of possession and manufacturing of child pornography in the “sexting” case, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. If convicted, he could be incarcerated until he’s 21 and included on the state sex offender database.
These charges stem from a legal complaint filed by his 15-year-old girlfriend’s mother. The girl sent photos of herself to the 17-year-old, who in return sent her an explicit video of his penis.
Jessica Harbeson Foster, the boy’s attorney, says that Detective David E. Abbott told her they would “use special software to compare pictures of this penis to this penis.” In the situation that the defendant refuses to allow them to take the pictures they would, “just take him down to the hospital, give him a shot and then take the pictures that we need.”
Foster has pushed back against the search warrant. “What is just about this? I don’t mind trying the case. My goal is to stop the search warrant,” she said. “I don’t want him to go through that.”
The defendant appeared before a judge on July 1 and declined to plead guilty. Substitute Juvenile Court Judge Jan Roltsch-Anoll granted a continuance so police could get a search warrant.
Carlos Flores Laboy is the court appointed guardian for the teen and pointed out the irony of the prosecutors actions. “They’re using a statute that was designed to protect children from being exploited in a sexual manner to take a picture of this young man in a sexually explicit manner. The irony is incredible.”