The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into who is responsible for posting racy and nude photos of several Gwinnett County high school girls on social media outlets.

The postings were removed by authorities, but because the subjects are underage, anyone who posted or distributed the photos could be charged with distributing child pornography, a felony that carries a potential 20-year prison sentence.

The incident, which occurred last week, is the latest in a growing trend of young people having explicit photos of themselves - intentionally or otherwise - posted online for the world to see, experts and law enforcement officials say.

“The problem is once these photos are out there they can show up anywhere,” said former DeKalb County District Attorney J. Tom Morgan said. “We’ve seen pictures show up on Internet porn sites in other countries and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.”

Officials shut down the site, which featured more than a dozen girls from area schools including Shiloh, Parkview, Collins Hill, Duluth and Peachtree Ridge.

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