The Major Consequence:

ORLANDO, Fla. — After his former girlfriend taunted him, Phillip Alpert remembered the nude photos she e-mailed to him while they were dating.

He took revenge with an electronic blast — e-mailing the photos of the 16-year-old girl to more than 70 people, including her parents, grandparents and teachers.

Three days later, Alpert, then 18, was charged with transmitting child pornography. Alpert today is serving five years of probation for the crime, and he is registered as a sex offender — a label he must carry at least until he is 43.

"I didn't know how bad of a decision it was," Alpert, now 19, said recently at his MetroWest apartment. "I don't think it's fair."

Alpert is one of many Americans who are being charged with felonies and getting sentenced as sex offenders for doing something their friends do all the time, unaware of potential criminal charges.

The Minor Consequences:

If you really think about it, the only minor consequence is that the picture will be forever availible to anyone who wishes to access it. And even growing up in a school where everyone knows who you are and what you did, or even what you looked like with your clothes off!

 

MAJOR STORY!