The case also serves as a reminder to Iowa teens: It's illegal to send sexual cell phone images to a friend under age 18. It's also illegal to shoot sexual pictures or video of anyone under 18, even a willing boyfriend or girlfriend, although Dougherty wasn't charged with that.

Tuesday's plea agreement means Dougherty will avoid any of the consequences of a sex crime conviction.

A conviction would have been one of the first of its kind in Iowa involving a teen, cell phones and child pornography. But prosecutors across Iowa said they expect to see more cases in the future.

And the Dougherty case has at least one lawmaker questioning a state law some believe was intended to capture pedophiles, not high school students who were angry at ex-sweethearts.

Andy Dougherty was 17 and his then-girlfriend was 16 when they made the short video that prosecutors said contained "a sex act," Jim Dougherty said. Andy later forwarded it to a 17-year-old friend because he was seeking revenge on the girl for spreading rumors about him, his father said.

The video spread like wildfire through the Sioux City area.

"Yes, he deserves punishment, but he didn't do anything wrong that would make him deserve being on the sex offender registry," said Jim Dougherty, an electrical engineer. "He knew what he was doing was mean, but he had no clue of the legal ramifications."

Jim Dougherty is relieved that the prosecutor, Woodbury County Attorney Patrick Jennings, agreed to a plea agreement. Under the deal, Andy Dougherty pleaded guilty to three counts of third-degree harassment. He must spend 20 days in jail next summer, do 100 hours of community service and pay $300 in fines.

There are 55 sex offenders currently on the Iowa registry who were convicted of possession or distribution of child pornography, and one who was convicted of telephone dissemination of obscene material to a minor, according to registry administrators. None of the 56 is a teenager.

"I keep thinking: How many other high school kids are forwarding e-mails or texting pictures that if prosecuted would nail them on the sex offender registry?" said state Rep. Christopher Rants of Sioux City, the Republican leader in the Iowa House.

Rants said what Andy Dougherty did was wrong, but the punishment allowed by current law is too harsh for teenagers making "this particular stupid mistake."

"We're not talking about being soft on sexual predators," Rants said. "We're talking about making sure the law works for real families and real situations."

Rants isn't the only legislative leader with an interest in the case. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Des Moines Democrat, was listed in court documents as one of the lawyers for the Doughertys.

McCarthy said he doesn’t think the laws need to be amended. “I support getting tougher on sex offenders and, as a former prosecutor, I believe that the prosecutorial edict of seeking justice, not merely convictions, provides safeguards in the process of certain charges being appropriately matched to the underlying facts of a situation,” he said.

Jim Dougherty telephoned Rants and other lawmakers to pressure them to revise the law on the telephone dissemination charge so that it doesn't force teens sending racy cell phone videos to be on the sex offender registry, to be electronically monitored by the Department of Corrections for five years, and to be subject to the 2,000-foot rule for life.

The family, which lives in Moville, heard there were three other cases of teens sending sexual cell phone images around Sioux City schools before Andy Dougherty was charged. People in the community said they thought the prosecutor wanted to make an example out of Andy, who was a starting forward on the varsity basketball team at Sioux City's East High and an accomplished track and field athlete who qualified for the state meet.

The teen lost potential scholarships because college recruiters fled when they heard about the charges, his father said.

After Andy was charged in February, Jim Dougherty went online to look at the university towns' sex offender restriction maps. "That day, I started crying when I looked at that computer," he said.

Of the residence halls at the three state universities, only the Quads at the University of Northern Iowa and Parklawn at the University of Iowa are outside restriction circles, law enforcement officials said.

But those two dorms are off limits, too. The universities have policies barring anyone on the registry from living in a campus residence hall, university officials said.

Sex offenders are entitled to attend classes, but they must live off campus.

Finding somewhere to live off campus isn't easy. Sororities and fraternities also often have policies or ethics standards that deem registered offenders unfit for their houses. And much of urban Cedar Falls, Iowa City and Ames is covered by the 2,000-foot restriction circles.

College students on the registry face other hardships. Dreams of becoming a teacher or coach are probably out the window. Chances are slim they could get a license, said George Maurer of the Board of Educational Examiners.

It could also nix other professions, such as doctor, nurse, lawyer or social worker, but examining boards review each case, officials said.

After listening to some basic facts of the Dougherty case, Ernie Allen, the president of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said it's "fairly uncommon" for prosecutors to seek such tough punishment in cases of teens in dating relationships who created photos or video of sex acts.

Polk County Attorney John Sarcone said it's more common to see a harassment charge, including for circulating images of drunkenness or other embarrassing behaviors. "Once it gets out there in cyberspace, it can get to YouTube, and people continue forwarding it on and on, and it's a problem," he said.

One Iowan on the sex offender registry for cell phone porn is a 22-year-old Ames man who sent an obscene video of himself masturbating to his 16-year-old girlfriend.

The girl's parents discovered it and called Nevada police.

A Marshalltown girl circulated a cell phone photo of a friend in a state of undress after the two girls had a falling out, Assistant Marshall County Attorney Paul Crawford said. "It caused a lot of embarrassment," Crawford said, but the punishment in juvenile court was relatively minor.

Iowa authorities expect to see more cases as they try to control a problem that's growing extensive.

"Five years ago, cell phones with cameras weren't as common," said Sean Berry, chief of the criminal division of the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of Iowa.

"A year from now, five years from now, these cases are going to increase exponentially."

The coverage of Andy Dougherty's arrest in the media hit the family hard.

"There's been days I didn't think I was going to make it," Jim Dougherty said last week.

"It's still a harsh penalty," the father said Wednesday of this week's plea deal, "but relative to what he was looking at, he'll have a life ahead of him and the ability to prove he's a good kid.