Deseret News
January 24, 2011
MTV’s newest TV series is so racy the network’s own executives worried during a meeting last week whether they could be charged with child pornography, according to a report in the New York Times.
Network execs and the producers of the show “Skins” have plenty to worry about, from potential legal problems to angry parents and the flight of mainstream advertisers.
The Parents Television Council believes the show has gone to a new level of depravity in its depictions of adolescent sexual acts. A PTC alert sent to parents about the show said that in addition to the sexual content in the debut episode, “Skins” had clocked 42 depictions and references to drugs and alcohol during the 41-minute premiere. “It is absolutely crucial,” the alert warned, “that you be aware of the most dangerous program that has ever been foisted on your children!” …
[Its] depictions of sex acts make that concern about potential child porn charges pretty realistic, a former chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section said Monday. “Given the allegations of sexually explicit conduct by minors that have been made in news reports and by the show’s distributors, MTV and Viacom, some material may constitute child pornography under U.S. law if certain conditions are met,” said Patrick A. Trueman, who is now the CEO of Morality in Media.
