A Black Louisiana teen was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile and possession of child pornography because he sent a fellow teen sexual texts.
Last Friday, 17-year-old Levar Allen of Bossier City was charged because he and a white 16-year-old girl were both sending sexts to each other.
Allen is a three-sport athlete at Parkway High School and had no criminal history until this incident. According to a report from Louisiana’s KSLA, the young man’s mother, Chasity Washington, said the white teenage girl sent a nude video to the three-sport athlete.
She warned her son about the dangers of responding to sexts, but he did not heed her warning, he replied.
Washington told reporters that there was “a video of a young lady doing an obscene act to herself. And then he sent one doing the same thing.”
Authorities charged Allen because they believe he violated the state’s law regarding minors under 17. Louisiana law states:
“Indecent behavior with juveniles is the commission of any lewd or lascivious act upon the person or in the presence of any child under the age of 17, where there is an age difference of greater than two years between the two persons, with the intention of arousing or gratifying the sexual desires of either person. Lack of knowledge of the child’s age shall not be a defense.”
Washington and Allen suspect the girl’s race may be a factor in the case. However, authorities have dismissed that notion. In a press conference last week, Bossier City Sheriff’s Lt. Bill Davis said, “We had our detectives go to every high school and every middle school here in Bossier Parish and talked to all of the students about the consequences of not only sexting but how it can lead in to child pornography.”
Allen was released Monday from a Bossier Parish jail on a $15,000 bond. His mother is pursuing other legal actions in the meantime.
