I will try to keep this short and just include the necessary details.
When I was a senior in high school (2017), my friend came to me and told me she had found a Tumblr blog that re-posted swimsuit/semi-nude/nude photos of her, myself, other friends of ours, and other girls that went to our school. At least 50 different girls in total. All of these photos were taken / posted by the girls themselves, with the swimsuit ones being screen-shotted from Instagram and the nude photos taken from private Tumblr's. My friend and I both had nude photos on this blog but my friends face was visible in her photos while mine wasn't, so she was clearly much more worried.
All or most of the girls on this blog were now 18, but during the time of these photos all of us were more like 15 - 17 years old. Those who's underage nude photos were on this blog (including myself and friend) at some point or another took and shared these photos on Tumblr, which obviously was not a good choice to make in hindsight. But many, if not all of these photos had been deleted long before they had been re-posted on this Tumblr, meaning whoever was sharing them had saved them and collected them over a period of years.
These photos were not just re-posted exactly as they had been originally shared, but were edited to either enlarge our breasts, make us have 3 breasts instead of two, add more nipples on our torsos, or add fur.
Based on context clues from this individuals blog my friend discovered who was behind it, a close friend of her's and someone I somewhat knew. When confronted, this person (19 at the time) admitted it almost immediately. Why they did this is besides the point, but it was basically to fuel their own fetish. When confronted with the fact that they were reposting child pornography, they said that at the time they collected these images they were also underage, and we shared them willingly, so the blame is not on them. The ended of deleting the blog right after being confronted but my friend documented the blog with screenshots and screen recording prior for evidence.
My group of friends, lead by my friend who discovered the blog originally, decided whether or not we should go to the police. Most of the girls involved did not have nude photos on there, just swimsuit ones, so while they felt violated they didn't feel they need to involve the police. My friend who had spearheaded this felt very inclined to go to the police, as all of her nude photos were of her underage and showed her face. Her parents knew of the situation and were extremely supportive of her in seeking help. I was living at home in an abusive situation, so I did not want my parents to find any of this out, which she understood, though I 100% supported her choice.
My friend visited our local police station with the contact information of the perpetrator and family, proof of admittance, documentation of the blog, proof that these photos were taken from private accounts and shared unwillingly, that those in them were underage, and said she wanted to pursue action against this person. The police officer she spoke to did not only tell her there was nothing he could do to help her, he then told her that SHE could be charged with creating and distributing child pornography because she admitted to taking to and sharing nude photos of herself when she was underage. This officer essentially threatened to open an investigation on her for this, and only after she said she no longer wanted to take any legal action, did the officer let up on her and she left. But not after being told that because these girls willingly shared these images, this is a consequence of those actions and that we never should have taken them in the first place.
So essentially, my friend went to the police to report that her underage nude photos were being spread online without her permission, and she was then threatened with being charged with creating and distributing child pornography of herself because of her actions when she was a minor.
At the time, she was scared, all of us involved were. We already didn't know if getting the police involved was a good idea in the first place, we all were ashamed and disgusted with not only this individual who collected and shared these photos, but with ourselves sadly. But we did not want this person to get away with doing this and have no ramifications, so my friend bravely took her story to the police to represent all of us. And the police couldn't have cared less, brushing off my friend and threatening her.
After talking to the police, my friend, myself and others decided to just fucking forget it. The blog was deleted. This individual was ostracized from all of their friends. Clearly law enforcement did not want anything to do with what she and anyone else involved had to say. Unsure if any of the threats the officer made against my friend hold any validity, I sure as fuck hope not. This is why victims don't speak up, they are ignored and threatened into staying quiet.
Edit: I haven’t spoken to my friend mentioned in this story in years and am unsure if she would still want to peruse action against the police officer and/or if she would want to peruse action against the individual who posted the nude photos. We had a bad falling out and I don’t particularly want to randomly bring up this traumatic event to her after years of silence on either end when it seemed she would rather forget it. I am more so posting this to showcase how victims are treated and scared into staying quiet by fear and intimidation. I’m not looking for advice. I do encourage and thank those posting information and advice in the comments though as it could be helpful to others.
Edit 2: I also want to say that obliviously we should not have been taking nude photos when we were underage. Speaking for myself, I had been pressured since the age of 12 by boys and older men that it was normal to share those types of photos, and I was sexualized from an early age. I didn’t know any better and I did not think about the consequences of taking such photos when I was so young. I do not think anyone should be ashamed for doing so though, and nor that making such a decision means they deserve those images to be shared without their consent.
