Police: 'Sexting' incident involves Barrington minors

Incident involves local girls 13-years-old and younger

Posted 1/27/20

Barrington police are telling teenagers to refrain from sending any inappropriate images of themselves or others online.

The warning follows a police investigation into reports of 11-, 12-, and …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Police: 'Sexting' incident involves Barrington minors

Incident involves local girls 13-years-old and younger

Posted

Barrington police are telling teenagers to refrain from sending any inappropriate images of themselves or others online.

The warning follows a police investigation into reports of 11-, 12-, and 13-year-old Barrington girls sending and receiving inappropriate images online.

On Friday, Jan. 24, a 13-year-old Barrington girl told police that she had been communicating with a 14-year-old boy from Iowa. The girl said she had been dating the boy online but recently broken up with him. The girl told police that after she broke up with him, he sent her an image of his genitalia. 

Police said the girl told them she blocked the boy from her online account. Police later discovered that the girl had not blocked the individual's account, and it appears she also began showing the image to other girls, sometimes while they were at school. 

A further investigation into the case revealed that multiple girls in Barrington between the ages of 11 and 13 were sending naked pictures of themselves to other individuals online. Police interviewed at least three girls and estimated that as many as a half-dozen girls were involved.

"Potentially, this is criminal" behavior, said Barrington Police Chief Dino DeCrescenzo. The chief said people can be charged with disseminating indecent material and possession of child pornography. 

Chief DeCrescenzo said that parents need to speak with their children about the dangers of this type of behavior. He also said that online predators will often create fake accounts, pretending to be the same age as their teen and pre-teen victims. 

They're not sure who they're really communicating with, said Chief DeCrescenzo.

The chief mentioned Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram as some of the social media sites involved in the recent case. 

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.