The police investigation into the exchange and occasional sale of sexually explicit images and videos via mobile computer networks among underage Newtown High School students is continuing, and may result in more juvenile arrests, according to police.

Police Chief James Viadero said February 2 that there may be more enforcement in the sexting case, in which three students have been charged and 20 others referred to a community-based juvenile review board. The students exchanged images and videos which they had made of themselves, according to police.

All students either arrested or referred to the review board were under age 18 when the violations occurred, so police have not disclosed their identities.

Police have been reviewing the sexting case with a Danbury Juvenile Court prosecutor, Chief Viadero said. A decision on possible additional enforcement is expected soon, he said.

Following a lengthy investigation at the high school that started last May, police on January 27 announced the three arrests and 20 referrals.

Three male students who were arrested each were charged with one count of obscenity as to minors, obscenity, transmission/possession of child pornography by a minor, and possession of child pornography, police said. Two of the four criminal charges are felonies and two are misdemeanors.

Those three boys were scheduled for appearances in Danbury Juvenile Court. Such court sessions are held in closed session and are not open to the public.

Police have said that in May 2015, Officer Liam Seabrook, who is the police department's NHS school resource officer, began the investigation based on allegations of student wrongdoing.

"It was discovered that numerous juvenile students - both male and female - created sexually explicit images and videos of themselves, which originally occurred outside of school, but [the matter] was brought to the attention of school administrators," police said. The administrators then alerted police about the situation, police said.

"During the investigation into the circulation of these sexually explicit images and videos, the Newtown police discovered that a number of students were selling these images and videos for a monetary profit," police said in a statement on the arrests and referrals.

"These images and videos were saved and subsequently circulated to other third-party juvenile students, other than the original intended recipient," police said.

School officials have issued discipline against the offenders. The police investigation ran in parallel to a school investigation.

Sexting Consequences

Asked to comment on the nature of the crimes committed by the youths, Chief Viadero said February 1, "It's a violation of law."

The young high school students who engaged in the illicit activity did not realize the consequences posed by such a use of technology, he said.

School officials have explained the consequences of such behavior to students, he added, noting, "It's going to follow you."

While children are enthralled by technology, they can be unaware of the consequences of misusing it, he said. New technology allows new activities to occur, he observed.

Such situations pose a challenge to the law enforcement community, he said.

Also, parents need to know about behavior trends among children that occur as a result of technology, he said.

Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, has said that whenever school administrators learn of adverse situations involving students outside of the high school, it becomes a concern of school administrators.

NHS Principal Lorrie Rodrigue has said that school officials work in tandem with police in investigating such situations. In the course of the school's investigation, the high school's assistant principals interviewed more than 100 students to learn what had occurred, the large majority of whom were not implicated in the case, she has said.

In view of what occurred, the school system now includes information at its freshman assemblies on the responsible use of social media by students, according to Dr Rodrigue.

The community-based Juvenile Review Board is a diversionary program that allows community leaders to take a tempered response to what would normally be considered criminal activity by juveniles.

Such a review board, in effect, keeps the offender out of the state's criminal justice system. Typically, such review boards impose consequences such as community service.

Failure to comply with review board requirements can result in juvenile offenders being arrested by police and then sent to juvenile court for the adjudication of their cases.