SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. - Sources say two Virginia teenagers were arrested Tuesday morning on possession of child pornography and electronic solicitation.

According to police, two Spotsylvania High School students, 18-year-old Moizeis Ribeiro and an unnamed 15-year-old male, have been charged in the county's first sexting case.

Authorities allege the suspects had nude pictures of underage girls on their cell phones. According to police, the girls were asked by the suspects to take explicit pictures of themselves with their cell phones and then text the pictures to the suspects.

Investigators believe they then sent the photos to various other people.

Police say the girls range in age from 12 to 16 -- the youngest victim is in elementary school. "The girls are 12, 13 and 16 years old. There are three we identified. Two unknown females we are working to identify," said Lt. Matt Pritchett of the Spotsylvania County sheriff's office. 

Sexting is when someone takes a nude or explicit picture with a cell phone and then sends it via text message. County residents and parents say they fear sexting is becoming more and more common.

"Nowadays, it happens a lot more than people would think. A lot more," said Eric Dent, a Spotsylvania County resident.

"If there's a door there for them to open -- they are [going to] open it and see what's on the other side," added Ray Todd, a Spotsylvania County resident.

Authorities say they hope the arrests remind parents to keep a close eye on the technology their children possess. "We really want to impress on the parents that you really need to monitor their cell phone usage and their computer usage," noted Pritchett.

Police say they seized a total of seven cell phones. Sources say more young people could be charged in the case.

 Email To Friend