Prosecutors in a string of incidents involving teenagers, who were caught with sexually explicit images on their cell phones, have painted the phenomenon of sexting, as an epidemic among teenagers. That's far from the truth. According to a new study by the University of Hampshire Crimes against Children Research Center, sexting, or the sending and receiving of sexually explicit content via cell phones is much less common than prosecutors would have you believe.

In fact, the number of teenagers in the survey, who admitted to sending or receiving sexually explicit material via cell phone, was just about one teenager in 100. The results of the study, which have been published in the Pediatrics journal, confirm to San Jose criminal defense lawyers that the practice is not as widespread as parents fear. The study involved 1,560 children aged between 10 and 17. It found that older teens were much more likely to send and receive sexual images on their cell phones. While teenagers may take nude or semi nude images of themselves on their cell phones, only 10% of them admitted to actually sending these images to others. Only 3% of the teens who received sexually explicit images on their cell phones forwarded these images. About 20% of the teenagers who received or made sexually explicit images, reported them to adults. Overall, just 1% of the images that were transmitted via cell phone, actually violated child pornography laws. Fortunately, the study also finds that in most cases, law-enforcement officials treat these cases with the tact they deserve, instead of rushing to file charges.

Several high-profile incidents involving sexting have been spotlighted in the media over the past couple of years. In these cases, teenagers, who had nude or semi nude pictures of themselves or other teens on their cell phones, were threatened with charges of possession of child pornography. In most of these cases, it was ultimately found that the images were created without any intention to harm, or were experimental in nature.