Featured Image Credit: Fox2Detroit
Topics: Crime, Social Media, US News
Emily Brown
A teenage girl has spoken out after photos from her social media pages were shared to a porn website without her consent.
Elena, from Farmington Hills, Michigan, says she is one of as many as 44 girls in her high school whose photos were taken and shared without permission.
The images are nonsexual, but are alleged to have been shared by a classmate at the school.
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The leak prompted an investigation by Farmington Hills Police and Homeland Security, while Elena and her mum, Barrett, have even been on the phone with the FBI after they were shared online.
Elena told Fox2 she and her friends feel 'very violated' at having their images shared beyond their own accounts, saying: "It was like, how was this happening to me and all these other girls because we’ve done nothing wrong.
"We are just posting pictures of ourselves when we're are confident in our bodies and we think we look good, and that was taken out of context."
A suspect is known to police, with officers saying a 17-year-old boy who committed at least one felony was arrested within hours of the first complaint. He was later released to his parents.
Elena's mum slammed the actions of the person who shared the photos, saying: "And then to see that he took these very innocuous photos and made them vulgar and disgusting. [He] gave away her Instagram name, gave away her first name. I mean, realistically, he’s opening these kids up for human trafficking."
Sources cited by Fox2 claimed the person responsible for sharing the images had uploaded hundreds of photos to multiple porn sites and received payment for the images.
As a result, the people in the photos have become subject to harassment, with Barrett explaining: "There was some name-calling, there was some joking about it as if these girls had done something to deserve this."
"I sat in the counselling office all day because going back to class after hearing what I heard, and being treated the way some of us are being treated. I couldn’t handle that," Elena added.
"I want and need justice...I don’t want him to get a slap on the wrist because he doesn’t deserve that.
"He deserves to be held accountable for everything that he’s done to us."
Though Elena indicated there are already dozens of people knowingly affected, Farmington District officials fear there could be more victims and are encouraging parents to speak to their children about sharing photos online.
Police Chief Jeff King said: "Have that tough conversation with your child or with each other as adults, and be cognisant that once something is released on a social media account or the internet, it’s there forever."
Farmington Hills police want anyone who may have been a victim to call them at (248) 871-2600.