Parents, school districts, and law-enforcement officials have been grappling with what to do with teenagers who take sexually explicit photos of themselves with their cell phone cameras and send them to friends. Now, a handful of state legislatures are moving to get rid of one option: child pornography charges that result in lifetime listings on states' internet sex-offender registries.

Legislation passed by the Vermont Senate and pending in the House would remove the most serious legal consequences for teenagers who engage in "sexting." The bill would carve out an exemption from prosecution for child pornography for 13- to 18-year-olds on either the sending or receiving end of sexting messages, so long as the sender voluntarily transmits an image of himself or herself.

The bill, however, would not legalize the conduct. Legislators believe prosecutors could still use laws against lewd and lascivious conduct and against disseminating indecent materials to a minor.

And in Ohio, state lawmakers introduced a bill April 13 that would make sexting a first-degree misdemeanor. The legislation would apply only to teens younger than 18, separate from similar adult offenses that carry felonious charges.

State legislatures have been cracking down on sexual predators in recent years, but lawmakers in Vermont and Ohio say they don't want increasingly tough penalties applied to those caught up in what many regard as a youthful fad.

"We felt that it's poor behavior and it's not something we want to give our OK to," said Vermont Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "But at the same time, do we want a kid in jail? Do we want them tagged as a sex offender for the rest of their lives? And the answer is no."

Said Ohio State Rep. Ron Maag, R-Lebanon: "They did something stupid, but I don't think anyone wants for them to be called sex offenders. This legislation will give prosecutors direction in how to deal with the matter."

Prosecutors around the country have tried various approaches against teenagers who used cell phones, eMail, or social-networking web sites to transmit naughty pictures of themselves.

Last month, a 14-year-old New Jersey girl was arrested for posting nude pictures of herself on MySpace. She was charged with child pornography and distribution of child pornography for allegedly posting nearly 30 explicit pictures on the site. But it's likely she'll avoid jail because she's a juvenile, according to a prosecutor handling the case.

In Pennsylvania, 17 students involved in distributing photos of nude or scantily clad female classmates accepted a county prosecutor's offer that their cases would be resolved if they participated in a five-week after-school program on sexual harassment and similar topics. Three balked and sued in federal court to stop prosecutors from filing charges. (See "Federal judge blocks charges in ‘sexting' case.)