Two boys, who are 12 and 15 years old, and one girl, who is 13 years old, have been charged with the electronic transmission of child pornography.
The three juveniles allegedly posted on social media sexually explicit photos of Broward County juveniles who were below 18 years old.
Pembroke Pines police said that it was late last year when they began to investigate the trio's Instagram account, which had more than 500 followers.
The names of the trio of juveniles have been withheld since they are minors.
There was no information on how the suspects obtained the nude photos. Reports say that the three juveniles encouraged their followers to obtain them. Posts included the name and other personal data of the victims, which made it easier for them to be harassed by the account's followers with insulting comments.
"The Pembroke Pines Police Department urges the community to pay close attention to their children's online activity," said Sgt. Angela Goodwin. "Anyone that transmits, downloads or possesses images and/or videos which depict the exploitation of children/juveniles are subject to state and federal criminal charges."
Sgt. Drew Jacobs, spokesman for Pembroke Pines, said that there were a number of youths who were exploited, although he could not give an exact number.
"All I know is it's multiple," said Jacobs. "This is an ongoing investigation."
2-1-1 Broward Helpline's Billie Morgan warned parents to remain vigilant about the online activities of their children and reminded parents about the increasing number of cyber bullying cases.
"We have to make sure that's not our child that this is happening to," said Morgan. It's a difficult conversation to have with your teen, about Internet safety, but it's a necessary conversation that you need to have."
Cases of hacked phones in 2014 also prompted the Pembroke Pines police to warn students that images could be uploaded to sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
"There's probably individuals whose photographs are posted on this site, and they have no idea that they're on there," said Capt. Carlos Bermudez.
Parents are advised to convince their children never to take an explicit image of themselves.
"Don't take any inappropriate photos," said Morgan. "That's really the lesson here."
Any parent who believes their child is one of the victims in the case can contact the Pembroke Pines Police Department at 954-431-2200.
