My son sent a nude - will he be prosecuted? What happens now?

Yes. The one good thing to come out of it is that the OP's son confided in her.

This was the case in my area some years back - a teenager jumped from the Forth Road Bridge:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/daniel-perry-suicide-teenage-blackmail-2172896

This happened to a boy at my sons’ school and he took his life last year as he was too ashamed to reach out for help when the blackmail started.

OP, it’s so good your son has been able to talk to you about this.

The important thing is he told you and you can deal with it together. There are horrible people out there threatening horrible thing, hopefully he’s not identifiable and can say to them ‘well people won’t know it’s me’ if they threaten to share, Also it sounded very consensual if it is a girl.

And people can make comments and judge, we all talk about on line safety but we’ve all got carried away in real life and done things we regret, we just didn’t have the horrible thing now of things being recorded. Hope your son’s ok, tell him to try not to think about it, you’ll all get it sorted

I’m so glad he told you, a friend of a friend has a truly tragic story with a similar beginning. Reassure him that you are 100% there for him, that being stupid isn’t insurmountable and that you still love him. Try not to terrify him as these people pray on fear.

So was I. Luckily the information isnt captured somewhere accessible to all for ever. Its only in the memories of some.

We are essentially letting kids into a room with guns, knives, sexual abuse, drugs etc.

Thats what we're doing when we give them phones and push the narrative that they need them and can use them responsbility. By the time your child has the conversation with you about what they have done, they've done it. and now everyone and his wife knows about it.

Well I’m afraid I think anyone who solicits photos of genitals from online contacts is grotty. What would you call it?

I think sexting is rife amongst teenagers and most parents don’t know the half of what’s exchanged in either texts or photos.

In the OP’s son’s case it sounds highly likely to be a scam. But to suggest that girls who engage in what’s become common sexual behaviour amongst some young people are ‘grotty young ladies’ is rooted in views of both women and sex that I don’t happen to subscribe to.

How many females are into pics of penises?

I don’t believe the person asking not one but multiple people for photos of their genitalia is likely to be a “young girl.” That was my point, not that it would suddenly be a entirely wholesome and reasonable request had it been made by a male.

Get him a new number. Delete hers so if it's a scam there's no way to contact him.

We were impulse driven and making risky decisions long before phones existed.
I remember girls climbing out of our boarding school windows to go and meet men. Men not boys. And this was a very respected boarding school

Banning phones isn't the issue. Having decent relationships with our children is the key. Ops son has told her what is going on. She and he should be proud they were able to have that conversation

Exactly this

Has he actually seen the girl? On FaceTime? Or was it only messages? If the girl exists, he’s been an adopt and you need to make sure he u errands the very real risk to himself sending that stuff. Is his face in the video? If he’s never seen the girl, it could be an extortion/ scam from an adult and I’d be contacting the police immediately in case he is blackmailed by someone. Either way/ a very long conversation about why you do not share that on the internet is clearly needed

Even if she is a real person, no he wouldnt be prosecuted. If he was being aggressive and abusive and grooming her, well possibly spoken to but it never goes anywhere at that age.

However others have already set out what the other risks are which you should be more concerned about

This is why children shouldnt have smart phones but I'll be shouted down for that. Its all very well people saying 'teach them how to use it responsibly'. They are teens, they are impulsive and hormone led at this age. They make mistakes. We shouldnt be giving them the tools to make mistakes that will live with them, online, to be seen by everyone else forever. But we are, in their hand and they pootle off to school with them to show their friends their mistakes.

Well he's told you. Now he needs to tell you when he starts being blackmailed. I would take his phone for now tbh.

You dont even know if this girl exists.

Grotty young lady??! Include the boy, please

If this is real, then no, he won't get prosecuted

But let's hope he learns from this experience

What is not grotty about asking people online to send you genital photos?

It’s not derailing: I was agreeing it’s likely a scam. Read between the lines a little.

And don’t be ridiculous about misogny. If it’s a female asking, I’m going to say “her.” Had it been a male who started it I’d have said exactly the same but using the pronoun “he.” This over-reactive misogny calling actually detracts from the whole anti-misogyny stance.

ETA your post was an attempt at judgment and shaming anyway so take a 👏👏👏 for yourself.

To be honest OP my guess is that she was just with her friends and thought it would be funny to try get nudes from the boys. Teens send each other nudes, not that its right at all but it's what happens. It was so common when I was a teen. I don't think he is about to be blackmailed (I doubt there is anyway of identifying him from the pics/video) and as they are both children I doubt they will be accused of distributing CP unless the photos have been sent to other people. My first thought would have been that it may not be a 15 year old girl on the other end but an older man pretending to be a teenager girl to lure younger boys.

Wow. Not quite sure where to begin with that - judgement, shaming, misogyny, and thread derailing all in one line. Well played 👏

It’s illegal to show or share indecent images under 16. How this turns out will be whether her Father or indeed the young lady reports it.
Does he know if this girl is genuine? If not, you may need to go to the police.

Parents need to wise up to what's happening to their children. Here is the playbook:

1. Child is targeted and groomed
2. They chat for a while and develop a relationship
3. They get asked for nudes
4. They then get blackmailed to say that their nudes will be sent to all their friends unless they send money

if his face isn’t in the video then he can’t really be blackmailed

Yes she sounds like an exceptionally grotty young lady if she is real.

Was his face showing in the pictures/videos?
As PP said police aren't likely to do anything if it is as he said it is, but more likely he's been targeted by scammers. Remove phone and unsupervised internet access privileges.