Committing a felony is easier than most teens — and their parents — might realize.

All a teen needs is his or her computer and a cell-phone camera to commit crimes that carry a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison and a $15,000 fine, according to Jeff Conrad, a former assistant district attorney who has prosecuted people accused of sex crimes.

Conrad outlined a hypothetical scenario for the commission of a serious crime at a meeting on Internet safety recently held for the parents of students in Hempfield School District.

"Your kids go to a party," he said. "Someone has a cell phone (camera), and one of their buddies happens to get all buck naked. They go home and think it's funny. So they put it on the Internet and send it out to their buddies."

When the person takes a photo of a naked minor, he's committing a felony of the third degree. Though the teen probably doesn't think of it this way, the photographer has just created child pornography.

When he puts it on the Internet and sends it out to his buddies, he commits another felony, dissemination of child pornography. Each of his buddies who passes it on also can be charged with dissemination of child pornography.

Anyone who saves that picture on his computer can be charged with possession of child pornography, another felony, Conrad said.

"These things do happen and have happened to people here in Lancaster," said Conrad, who is now working as a defense attorney. "What you see on computer crimes are 'good kids' doing illegal activities (by doing) what they think is a prank."

Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Franz, who prosecutes juvenile sex offenders, said children just "aren't thinking when they are creating this child pornography."

For example, a boyfriend and girlfriend who videotape themselves having sex with each other might think it's "cute and endearing" for themselves to watch, Franz said. However, they aren't considering the ramifications of that video going online.

Assistant District Attorney Todd Kriner is working on a case in which a video shot by a couple was stolen from the boyfriend's house. Kriner said it was disseminated everywhere: "on the Internet, at school, at parties, everything." When the girlfriend's father found out about it, he called the police.

The case put the district attorney's office in the position of prosecuting teenagers for third-degree felonies: It is a felony to take pictures of someone under 18 engaging in any kind of sex act or nudity that is "depicted for such purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification of any person who might use such depiction," according to state law.

It is also a felony to disseminate those pictures by sending them over a cell phone, posting them on an Internet site like MySpace or Facebook, e-mailing them or printing them and showing them around. It also is a felony to possess child pornography, including storing it on your computer.

Furthermore, state Rep. Jennifer Mann, D-Lehigh, introduced legislation on March 13 that would make viewing child pornography a crime.

And, with the recent passage of the federal Adam Walsh Act, a Megan's Law -like listing of juvenile sex offenders will be created. Within the next three years, Pennsylvania legislators will have to determine whether teens who possess and/or disseminate child pornography will be placed on the public list, Franz said.

"A lot of people think they are going to go messing around looking at these kind of things," Conrad said. "When they are playing around with those materials that are prohibited, they are running the risk of being arrested for child pornography."

Franz is prosecuting a case in which a teen is accused of possessing child pornography. She said the teen went on the Internet and downloaded photos and videos of child pornography.

"Kids have a false sense of security with computers, you know," Franz said. They may think that they can hide things, that no one can access their computer, that putting indecent pictures of themselves on MySpace is just funny.

Kids need to know that the district attorney's office can locate any information that is sent through electronic media, whether it's deleted or not, said Karen Mansfield, an assistant district attorney.

Nevertheless, the district attorney's office isn't trying to play Big Brother, "bashing down doors to get to somebody who inadvertently sent a picture," said First Assistant District Attorney Heidi Eakin.

"This is more of an awareness thing. People don't understand the implication of what they are doing," Eakin said.

County prosecutors haven't gone after many teens for felonies such as these, primarily because children aren't telling and don't realize it's against the law — and parents aren't watching.

Even if teens are not caught and prosecuted, the attorneys said, the consequences still can be lifelong.

"They don't realize," Kriner said, "that once it's on the Internet, it's everywhere, for everybody, and somebody who wants it can get it and pretty much do whatever they want to with it, whether it's a picture or a movie."

If teens knew the pictures they took for fun may be downloaded and used for some child predator's sexual gratification, they might realize it's not a good idea, Franz said.

Also, those pictures could haunt them in the future.

"Once it's on the computer, it's on there for the rest of your life," Mansfield said. "So if you're 16 and doing something with your boyfriend or taking pictures, when you're 80 you probably can still see that picture."

Employers, colleges and military recruiters are checking applicants' trails on the Internet and finding those pictures, Conrad warned parents.

"We've got to protect our babies," he said. "We've got to tell them real consequences about their actions."

E-mail: lespenshade@lnpnews.com