Several gay adult websites have posted photographs of teenage water polo players from several high schools in Southern California - alarming their parents, coaches and school officials, the Orange County Register newspaper reports. Parents say some of the boys were traumatised and have sought counselling, the paper's investigation found. Some of the pictures, of boys as young as 14, were displayed next to photos of nude young men and graphic sexual content. "For someone to come in and take what these kids are doing and take it out of context and exploit these images, these kids and their schools, because you can see the school name on the caps, is just horrible," said Joan Gould, an international water polo official and a spokeswoman for a group of Orange County water polo parents. Police at the University of California, Irvine, confirmed they are investigating whether a campus police dispatcher had photographed the high school athletes for gay-oriented sites. The man had not been charged, and police Chief Paul Henisey said he remained on duty. "We're looking into the matter," Henisey said. "We're not exactly sure about what we have or what kinds of issues there are." It was not clear if posting the pictures constituted an offence. "With free speech and photography, there's a gray cloud in terms of what is legal, constitutional," said state Assemblyman Jose Solorio, chairman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Solorio said he would have the committee investigate the matter. The newspaper said it found photos of players from eleven Orange County high schools - as well as schools in Los Angeles and San Diego - on several pages of one gay porn site registered to a London address. Photos were also posted on other gay-themed websites.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Monday, 21st January 2008 - 10:02am