A teenage schoolboy who "sexted" a female classmate claims he has been added to a police database.
The 14-year-old, whose identity has not been made public, is said to have sent a naked image of himself using Snapchat while flirting with a girl of the same age.
She then shared it with others and a police officer based at the school eventually became aware of the photograph, he said.
Since then he has been told the incident led to police adding details of his behaviour to a file on the national register.
The file remains active for a minimum of 10 years, meaning potential employers conducting an advanced Criminal Records Bureau check could be told.
The "sexting" incident has been recorded as a crime of making and distributing an indecent image even though he was not arrested or charged, the boy's mother told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"I think at best he was naive and at worst he was just a teenager," she said.
"It (sending the image) is referred to as sexting, and apparently it happens all the time. It is just how teenagers flirt these days."
The boy, who goes to school in the north of England, said: "I shouldn't have done it. It's just annoying really, something that I did when I was 14 could reflect badly in future."
It is not clear whether a similar police file was created for the girl who received and shared the image, or what action was taken against her.
People who have found indecent or explicit images of themselves shared or posted on the internet have routinely been treated as victims rather than aggressors since the introduction of a revenge porn law in April.
Additional reporting by PA
