Girl's nude photo may have been circulated by dozens of Belmont students

The incident occurred at a middle school that recently held a seminar for parents to encourage the responsible use of technology by their children, and where corridors are labeled "Cooperation Way" and "Respect Boulevard."

Nationally, 20 percent of teenagers report having sent or posted nude or semi-nude photos of themselves online or via phone, according to a 2008 study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

In Massachusetts, cases involving racy photos and texts have made headlines in Newton, Falmouth, and Billerica, among other locations. Those cases, however, have involved only a small number of students, not widespread forwarding of photos.

"The message to parents is: Get educated. Know what your kids are doing, and lay down ground rules. Don't be afraid to -- and in fact we urge them to -- monitor their kids' use of electronic devices," Leone said.

For youths, the message is that "when you send a visual image of yourself to others electronically, one, you have lost absolutely all control of that image, and two, you can never get it back."

State law is not properly equipped to address these cases, which fall under the child pornography statutes, meaning sharing the photos constitutes a felony crime and a sex offense.

Local prosecutors have preferred to avoid criminal prosecution, as Leone did last year in the case at Billerica's Marshall Middle School, where the youths and their parents signed agreements to keep the matter out of court as long as they performed community service, completed a cyber-education program, wrote essays, stayed off Facebook and social-networking sites, and did not use phones that can take or transmit photos.

"The clear preference is prevention and diversion, and not prosecution," Leone said. "However, depending on the intent of the sender and how egregious the conduct is, there may be those cases where we choose to prosecute. But the fact of the matter is, in Massachusetts, at least, the only prosecutable crimes which sexting fits within are those crimes which are intended to target child pornography."

In Belmont today, Superintendent George Entwistle released a statement but declined to be interviewed.

Entwistle said Chenery principal Deborah Alexander notified police Thursday afternoon after learning that a student had an inappropriate photo stored on a cellphone. He said the matter, which originated outside of school, underscores an important message: "Technology used for the wrong purpose can be dangerous and potentially illegal."

The Belmont Citizen-Herald broke the story on its website this afternoon, after Chenery's assistant principal appeared at a parents meeting in Winchester, where he is a finalist for a principal's job, and reportedly mentioned the case after a parent asked him about protecting children online. That administrator, Bill Grubb, did not respond to phone and e-mail messages today seeking comment.

In interviews today, one member of the Chenery Parent Teacher Organization chastised Grubb for being indiscreet , while another parent considered it "pretty normal stuff" for teenagers. Others called it a matter of concern that should be discussed openly.

"Chenery has been actively educating children and parents about the dangers of cellphones with cameras," said Kimberly Becker, an officer on the Chenery PTO. "It's sad that it's happened, but hopefully with more awareness we can keep it from continuing to happen."

Thomas Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, said the case is an example of widespread and insidious behavior.

"Kids think they're not going to get caught, because they think this is something they can do secretively, but it's very destructive to the kids who are involved doing this, particularly to the victim," he said.

Travis Andersen of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.