Indian American teacher’s case gets twisted by the law

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The Indiana Supreme Court has upheld a state law on sending sexually explicit photographs through social media and other mediums in the case of Indian American high school teacher Sameer Thakar.

Thakar was arrested in February after he sent an inappropriate picture of him to a 16-year-old girl in Oregon through Skype.

At the time, Thakar was a first year teacher at North Central High in Indianapolis and was fired by Washington Township Schools after the incident.

However, Thakar’s attorneys argued that the law governing explicit photographs was unconstitutional, because the age of sexual consent in Indiana is 16.

The argument was deemed “confusing” for the state as it was legal to allow someone to engage in sexual activity with a 16-year-old while it is illegal to send sexual images to someone the same age.

A trial judge agreed with Thakar and tossed out the charge and although the ruling was upheld by the state Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court reversed it.

According to the Supreme Court, the law “clearly protects minors under the age of 18 from the dissemination of matter harmful to them. Whether this inconsistent statutory treatment of minors aged 16 and 17 is advisable with respect to sexually-related activity is a matter for the legislature,” wrote Justice Mark Massa.

According to a New York post report, Thakar allegedly sent the photo to the girl after they discussed her age and she told him she wished she were 18, he later confessed to police that he had a problem with chatting online.

Thakar’s case will return to trial court for a new hearing.