Calgary teen charged in sexting case
Teenage girl told police she received numerous sexual and threatening messages
A 15-year-old boy is facing several charges in connection to a sexting incident.
Sexting is when people send explicit messages or photos via smartphones over text or social media apps like Snapchat.
The alleged victim said she received texts of a sexual nature and at least 25 phone calls, many of them threatening, from an unknown number.
Police said they tracked the account to the parent of the accused boy.
The boy and the alleged victim went to the same school and were previously in a relationship.
The boy is charged with criminal harassment and making child pornography.
'Everything you do on the internet leaves a footprint'
Staff Sgt. John Guigon with the Integrated Child Exploitation unit said although these investigations can be time consuming, they are easily cracked.
"There is a belief out there propagated by society that there's a veil of anonymity on the internet and that's just not the case," he said.
"Everything you do on the internet leaves a footprint and my unit in particular is quite skilled at figuring out who did what, and where and when."
Police said this case also sends a rarely-heard message that child pornography doesn't always involve sending pictures, video or audio.
A person can be charged with the offence even for sending sexually explicit texts involving children.