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Plymouth Students Facing Charges After 'Sexting' Investigation

BOSTON (CBS) – Six students are facing criminal charges following a "sexting" investigation at Plymouth North High School.

Police Chief Michael Botieri confirmed that development to the I-Team on Wednesday afternoon.

The charges include possession of child pornography and distributing obscene matter to a minor, Botieri said.

One student also faces a charge of annoying/accosting a person of the opposite sex. That charge stems from alleged text messages that threatened to post nude photos of the victim online unless she agreed to meet up for sex.

While the charges might be unusual, Botieri said the sharing of inappropriate photos amongst students is not.

"It's unfortunately very common," he said.

WBZ-TV first reported on the police investigation back in March. Since then, detectives collected cell phones and had them analyzed at the Plymouth County Bureau of Criminal Information.

The names of the students are not being released because they are juveniles. A spokeswoman for the Plymouth County District Attorney did not have any immediate details about the cases.

Plymouth Superintendent Gary Maestas is on an overseas school trip and was unavailable for comment.

However, Maestas sent a letter to faculty and parents about the investigation in March.

"We want to know we are very concerned about social media and its impact on students and their educational opportunities," the letter said.

Maestas also wrote that he anticipated assembling a forum to address the appropriate use of social media.

Ryan Kath can be reached at rkath@cbs.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or connect on Facebook.

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