@Can't get my head round this. cntd...
This entire sorry tale is an example where law is made without proparly considering the consequences. The entire situation aws predictable, that teenagers would take pictures of themselves naked and give them to partners, or use them to tease others is hardly a great leap, and I'm quite sure it has happend for years.
These poorly thought out laws are then given over to people in positions of power who have their own personal agendas and prejudices and they use the law as best fits their world view.
And you have to wander what the laws were stopping in the first place, seen as engaging a minor in a sexual acts was already illegal as is making minors commit sexual acts to themselves or others, creating a photo is just further evidence of a crime. You can also extrapolate that owning a photograph is being in posession of evidence of a crime and therefore also an offence.
The situation where taking the photo is also a crime kind of makes sense in the states where you do terms one after another, however due to plea bargaining an actuial criminal will be able to get rid of either the main offence or lots of little ones.
So we're now wandering, why does this creating child pornography law even exist, when in order to create child pornography you have to abuse a child, and that's already a crime that has a hefty sentance. You also have decency laws that stop you distrobuting material that is deemed as indecent, such as child sex. So why have seperate distrobution laws for CP.
Why do we create new laws that cover things that are already illegal?
Two thoughts, law makers need something to do and politicians need to look to be doing things.
At the end of the day I suspect if we cooked down all the laws into their basic meaning we'd end up with at a push 20 basic laws, some that would appear, don't steal, don't kill or harm people without good cause, don't abuse people trust, don't abuse your position, do not ruin anothers livelyhood, do not ruin anothers good name, do not rape, do not judge based on racial,sexual, or religious prejudice only on the facts available.
Why do we need a few thousand laws?