On behalf of sane Pennsylvanians everywhere, I apologize for the rest of my state. Do I think this kid is rude? A bit, yeah. Do I think he showed poor judgement putting the photo on his Facebook page when he lives in a small town? Indubitably. But criminalizing an offensive joke by a teenager is way over the line, of both the First Amendment and the separation of church and state.
Now he faces two years in juvie. Yoo hoo, ACLU!
EVERETT, Pennsylvania (KRON) — A Pennsylvania teenager is facing criminal charges after posting pictures to Facebook of him simulating a sex act with a statue of Jesus.
The young man posted that he took the pictures in late July at the statue of a kneeling Jesus in front of the “Love in the Name of Christ” Christian organization in his hometown of Everett.The criminal charge, which will be heard in family court, consists of “Desecration of a Venerated Object.”
Pennsylvania law defines desecration as “Defacing, damaging, polluting or otherwise, physically mistreating in a way that the actor knows will outrage the sensibilities of persons likely to observe or discover the action.”
I never heard of this law, but it sounds like wingnut legislation written to get around SCOTUS rulings on flagburning. Whatever it is, it sounds unconstitutional to me.
