Deputies investigate vulgar social media posts by Wicomico Co. students

Wicomico County Public School students appeared to be more active than usual on social media Sunday night.

It appears that the spark of the drama is a vulgar Instagram account with posts of naked pictures of female students.

“We are conducting an investigation into an incident involving inappropriate pictures being posted on a social media account ,” says Lieutenant Tim Robinson with the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office. “We’re looking at the different and multiple avenues of how these pictures have ended up on these social media.

Tracy Sahler, a spokeswoman for Wicomico County Public Schools said in a statement that they received information about a social media concern involving some students and they are working with the Sheriff’s Office to investigate and gather more information.

She added, “We take the safety of our students very seriously.”

However, students openly expressed their feelings on Twitter about an Instagram account. Some of the students laughed, others seemed angry and blasted the alleged creator.

Lieutenant Robinson says the posts were taken down, but that is not their main concern.

“During the time this website was up people had access to those pictures, somebody could have saved them, downloaded them, distributed them, shared them,” he says. “Next thing you know, you have no idea where it’s going to go.”

While it is still unclear how the pictures got out, detectives say it is not new.

Detective Corporal Alex Kagan with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office says “sexting,” or sending sexually related texts back and forth, is becoming more and more commonplace.

“They’re going and they’re dating for very short periods of time, they’re sending these inappropriate photos of themselves,” he says. “They’re not thinking ahead that in the future these photographs are being shared among their peers.”

Kagan says it is also something that they are seeing at a younger age, even before the high school level.

“I know just through my communication with detectives across the country it’s a huge trend, it’s a growing problem right now.”

The ramifications on the Internet are severe, because the pictures will be there forever. However, from a legal standpoint, for those behind sharing and distributing them, it could mean criminal charges.

“If you’re posting pictures of people under the age of 18 that creates a whole different issue,” says Lieutenant Robinson. “It potentially could find someone charged with the possession of child pornography.”

47 ABC talked with several parents outside of Parkside High School who said they did not know about the incident but they are also not surprised.

As they continue their investigation, the Sheriff’s Office is urging parents to keep a close eye on your child’s Internet activity, especially social media.