Incident Underscores Why the Conversation Needs To Be Serious and Meaningful

Midway Movies, Route 1 in Lewes, Delaware, Sussex County

Date and Time of Occurrence: Friday, June 6, 2009, at approximately 8:35 p.m.

Suspect(s): Two 15-year-old girls from Chesapeake Beach, Maryland

Resume: At about 8:30 p.m. last evening, a staff member of the Midway Movies in Lewes was viewing the surveillance video system in the theaters when they came across two young ladies in one of the hallways.

The girls were observed taking off their clothes and snapping photographs of themselves with their camera enabled cell phones. These acts were done in public and witnessed by several other patrons walking by.

Troopers arrived on the scene and took custody of the suspects. They were taken back to Troop 7 on charges of Disorderly Conduct. Also, their parents were contacted.

Investigators learned that the two girls were de-robing and snapping the pics of themselves as they intended on electronically sending their racy photos to their friends- memorializing their behavior.

This incident underscores the dark contrast of how technology can both benefit and adversely impact our youth. Corporal/1 Jeff Whitmarsh says, “The purpose of this news release is not to simply notify the public of this incident, but to encourage parents to engage in serious and meaningful conversation with their kids about the dangers vs. the benefits of technology. As silly as incidents such as this may seem on the surface, there are real concerns afoot. Once a digital image is sent across the information highway, it no longer belongs to the sender. Photos, such as the ones taken last evening, all too often end up on various web pages and file sharing sites. It is not until the original sender learns how many people have seen their pictures, including strangers that the realization of their decision to send the photos in the first place sets in. This is why parents need to talk to their kids. This is why the conversation needs to be meaningful and serious.”