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'Sexting' Lesson Lands AZ Man in Jail for Sending Pics of Naked Girl

By Andrew Chow, Esq. on December 15, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

An alleged "sexting" lesson has backfired badly for an Arizona boyfriend. The man faces child sexual exploitation charges after he forwarded a photo of a naked girl to more than three dozen contacts on her cell phone.

Eugene Foster, 31, of San Tan Valley, Ariz., near Phoenix, was arrested after he forwarded the girl's nude photo Dec. 7. The girl is a teenager, but her age was not disclosed.

Foster was dating the girl's mother, and got angry after he found nude photos of the girl on the girl's cell phone, a sheriff's spokesperson told Phoenix's KPHO-TV.

Foster decided to teach the girl a lesson in the dangers of "sexting" -- by forwarding the naked photo to the girl's cell phone contacts. In all, 37 other cell phones received the offending image, which contained full frontal nudity.

"You can't distribute images like that. No one can. It's illegal," a sheriff's spokesman told KSAZ-TV.

Foster faces a serious charge, sexual exploitation of a minor. But that charge will likely be reduced because Foster didn't intend to exploit the girl, a sheriff's spokesman told The Arizona Republic. Intent is a key factor in proving sexual exploitation.

Sheriff's deputies are warning those on the receiving end of the "sexting" lesson not to forward the pic to others, or they could face charges themselves.

The girl's school district also sent a notice to parents, with a reminder that sharing nude pictures of minors in any electronic form violates child pornography laws.

Foster remains in jail in lieu of $250,000 bail -- a high price for a sexting lesson gone wrong.

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