A southwest Kansas county attorney says high school students who texted nude photographs of an underage girl will not be heading to court.

Finney County Attorney Susan Richmeier says that she will recommend the students enter a deferral program instead of charging the teenagers. She says about 40 students were involved and that they didn’t realize the life-long implications of their actions.

Garden City High School officials notified police in January that a teenage student reported her peers were passing around nude pictures taken when she was 13 years old.

Authorities had considered charges including sexual exploitation of a child.

Prosecutors will instead hold a public forum in the coming weeks to talk about the consequences of sexting.

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Associated Press information from: KWCH-TV