Bristol School administrators are warning parents to closely monitor children’s cell phone use after a “sexting” incident involving middle school students.

The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident involving a group of eighth graders. According to Sgt. Gil Benn, a girl in eighth grade took a topless photograph of herself, then sent the photo to a boy’s cell phone. That boy forwarded the photo to a second boy, who then forwarded the photo to multiple Bristol students.

Similar cases around the country and in the Milwaukee area have resulted in teens being charged with distribution of child pornography.

In a recent case, a 14-year-old high school freshman in Waukesha County was charged in November with 10 felonies, including possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a child after he allegedly coerced fellow teens to send sexually explicit photos of themselves from their cell phones or over the Internet.

“At this point we’re not sure that this individual case rises to the level of a criminal case,” Benn said. “It’s on the borderline.”

Benn said detectives have interviewed six students, including three 14-year-olds and three 13-year-olds, and confiscated “three to four” cell phones. He said detectives are trying to determine how many students received the photos.

Bristol Administrator Gale Ryczek said the incident came to light Tuesday when a parent discovered the photo on her child’s cell phone and reported it to the school. School officials contacted the Sheriff’s Department.

The school sent a letter by e-mail Thursday to parents of seventh- and eighth-grade students warning them of the issue of “sexting” or the sending of sexually explicit messages or photographs, usually between cell phones.

Ryczek said any family that does not receive the letter by e-mail will receive it through standard mail in the coming days.

He said the school also is contemplating disciplinary action for students involved, but is waiting for the Sheriff’s Department to complete its work.

The school’s letter does not talk specifically about the incident, but warns of the prevalence of sexually explicit texting by teens nationally, and urges parents to monitor cell phone use. Among the school’s suggestions is taking phones away from teens in the evening, monitoring the content of text messages, and encouraging kids to call friends from land lines at home.

Benn also urged increased oversight of the use of cell phones and computers by parents. “Any parent if they have given their child a cell phone should be regularly monitoring the photographs,” he said. “We need some serious parental involvement.”

He also urged parents of Bristol middle schoolers to check their children’s phones for the photographs, and to delete the image if it exists on the phone. “People who have these photos are opening themselves up to criminal involvement,” he said.