The issue was highlighted in January when police and school district officials announced an investigation into several Farmington Junior High teenagers who traded nude photos of themselves over cell phones.

Now, Davis County prosecutors are moving forward with cases against 18 teenagers who recently exchanged photos of their genitalia and other body parts, said Ronald Dunn, a deputy county attorney assigned to prosecute in Davis County's juvenile court.

"It's not the 'boys will be boys' and 'girls will be girls' thing that some people would like to believe," said Dunn. "Under federal definitions, this is child porn."

The majority of the juveniles - who live in Farmington or Kaysville - are facing charges of lewdness, either a Class A or Class B misdemeanor depending on whether the children are over or under age 14.

Two boys received felony charges after authorities determined they used nude photos to threaten and retaliate against an underage girl, Dunn said.

The juvenile court system this week notified the 18 children, who range in age between 12 and 14, of the charges against them. In addition, three Cache County juveniles discovered to be exchanging nude photographs by Davis County investigators were turned over to authorities in that county, Dunn said.

The teenagers will meet with a probation officer and their parents over the next several weeks, with the first meetings scheduled for today, Dunn said.

Those meetings will determine the course of action for each offender, depending on how he or she became entwined in trading nude photos, he said.

Setting sentences for juveniles involved in such activities is new ground for Davis County prosecutors. There is little case law to help prosecutors gauge how such cases should be handled, said Dunn.

"It's a brand new kind of situation here. The tools weren't out there before for [juveniles] to commit this kind of act," he said.

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said the nude photo issue couldn't be ignored.

Prosecutors worked to establish a range of charges that set consequences for the teens' behavior but didn't border on "overkill" with felony charges, Dunn said.

He said prosecutors and others in the juvenile court system want to educate the children about how their nude photos can leak to the Internet and stay in their technology even though they believe they have destroyed the material.

mrogers@sltrib.com