Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a bill designed to help prosecutors address sexting, the sharing of explicit photos, among teenagers.
The bill was among 17 Brownback signed into law Monday and Tuesday. His office announced the signings on Wednesday.
The measure creates new misdemeanor crimes of transmitting photos of a child ages 12 through 17 and possessing nude photos of a child ages 12 through 15 if the picture is sent by the subject of the photo.
Previously, prosecutors had only felony charges to file against those with nude photos of minors, which was seen as too harsh a punishment for teenagers sharing photos among themselves.