Oddly enough, Texas passed reform to keep sexting teens from getting prosecuted when: they are both under 18 and less than two years difference in age. It was regarded as a model for other states. It's the only positive thing I have heard of Texas legislating wrt sexuality.
Really? That "model" has the common, but obviously extremely undesirable, feature of criminalizing sexual relationships between students in the same grade that were legal when they formed. How could it be regarded as a model for anyone else?
I think they refer to the fact that, exposed as GP did, looks like there is a loophole if 2 teenagers started their relationship at 17 and 15, and once they become 18 and 16, sexting is suddenly illegal.
Huge IANAL disclaimer, but I don't think it is. It is decriminalizing some of the edge cases where reasonable, and missing the one you mention. That one isn't criminal where it wasn't previously, just unchanged, AFAICT.
I'm not claiming that the text at issue changes whether sexting in that relationship is criminalized, just that it is criminalized,† which should disqualify the law as a piece of model legislation.
It's true in a technical sense that where sexting is legal anyway, the "model" text wouldn't make it illegal, but that isn't an interesting observation, because where sexting is legal anyway, the text has no effects at all.
