Twitter Account Trading On Teen Pictures Raises Concerns

STOCKTON (CBS13) — "I mean my stomach dropped," said Brandon Rose.

The Stockton father searched his daughter's name online for mentions of her in the local newspaper.

"I was thinking it would be cool to be able to find a couple of those news articles and you can actually have them bronzed," he said.

Instead of articles, Brandon Rose found a provocative picture of his then-15-year-old daughter.

"It was a selfie pose in the mirror wearing clothes I wasn't a fan of," he said.

The selfie also revealed her name, high school, and Twitter handle. And it appears to be one of thousands of pictures posted to the Twitter account, California Cuties.

In this case, the dad says his daughter's friend posted the picture.

"She said that she was led to believe at the time all it was a website from different high schools so they can gain followers," he said.

Twitter user @cutiesofcali has more than 17,000 followers asking them to "message pictures of cuties with their name, school, city, and Twitter handle."

"As a father of a beautiful 13-year-old daughter myself, I understand his frustration," said criminal defense attorney Michael Wise.

But Wise says the page isn't illegal.

"When you look at the definition of pornography or illegal obscenity it doesn't seem to fit primarily because most of the photos are halter tops or bikinis or low-cut blouses," he said.

The law says child pornography usually involves nudity, but Rose says suggestive selfies are almost as bad.

"In my opinion, it's just a way to exploit children," he said.

So he contacted the FBI for help. They referred him to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and suggested he get back in touch with the agency if someone is following or contacts his daughter.

For now, he's controlling the privacy settings on her social media accounts.

"The possibilities are endless for what can happen to these other children," he said.

A spokeswoman for the FBI declined to comment on his story.

We also contacted the user @cutiesofcali
But haven't yet heard back.