GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) — A southwest Kansas county attorney says high school students who texted nude photographs of an underage girl will not be heading to court.

Finney County Attorney Susan Richmeier tells KWCH-TV she will recommend the students enter a deferral program instead of charging the teenagers. She says about 40 students were involved and that they didn’t realize the life-long implications of their actions.

Garden City High School officials notified police in January that a teenage student reported her peers were passing around nude pictures taken when she was 13 years old.

Authorities had considered charges including sexual exploitation of a child.

Prosecutors will instead hold a public forum in the coming weeks to talk about the consequences of sexting.