Teenager Simulates Oral Sex With Jesus Statue (PHOTOS)

Teenagers are prone to dumb, tasteless pranks, but one 14-year-old is facing prison time for his latest stunt. The teen, from Everett, Pennsylvania, hopped on top of a statue of a kneeling Jesus�in front of an organization called �Love in the Name of Christ��and simulated oral sex with the statue�s face. Naturally, he posted the pictures to Facebook, which made their way to authorities. Officials in Bedford County charged the teen (whose name hasn�t been released) with desecration of a venerated object, invoking a 1972 Pennsylvania statute that criminalizes �defacing, damaging, polluting or otherwise physically mistreating in a way that the actor knows will outrage the sensibilities of persons likely to observe or discover the action.� You�d think an appropriate punishment for a kid violating this seldom-invoked law might be picking up trash or, at worst, paying a fine. If convicted, he faces much worse: two years in juvenile detention. Truth Wins Out, a LGBT advocacy nonprofit, has argued that the law is unconstitutional because it violates the establishment clause��Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion��and free speech rights��Congress shall make no law abridging the right to hump a statue of Jesus.� Pennsylvania is not the only state with a �venerated objects� law�many states have some version of it, but most define �desecration� as vandalizing or otherwise physically harming an object of civic or religious significance. Alabama, Tennessee, and Oregon have laws like Pennsylvania�s, which can be interpreted to punish individuals�like this bold, dumb teenager�who simply decide to do something offensive.