Teen Registers as "Sext" Offender

Philip Alpert made a big mistake. He got angry at his girlfriend.

At the age of 18, he took sexually explicit pictures she sent him and forwarded them to his entire contact list.

Alpert was quickly arrested on child pornography charges. Albert had to register as a sex offender, which in all likelihood could ruin his life.

Alpert's lawyer, Lawrence Walters claims, "Society is starting to recognize that maybe this is something different, a phenomenon we haven't dealt with before, but currently they're doing it in the worst way possible, by lumping these kids in with pedophiles and molesters."

While it may be true that the punishment far outweighs the crime, Albert can't live with his father - too close to a school - and can't pursue his dream of computer animation due to restrictions on the Internet, Albert did break the law and his actions should be punishable.

Albert is a sex offender whether he'd like to be categorized as one or not. And whether or not he realizes it, he broke a serious law and committed a serious crime. The law does not discriminate toward an angry adult man and a man who is not angry, but disturbed. They both distribute sexually explicit photographs of underage teens. The motivation is not necessarily relevant, and if the judge is making an example of Albert, I say, so be it.

These laws are developed to protect the innocent and underaged, not the adult men who knowingly break them.