A 9-year-old Florida boy is facing two charges of aggravated assault, which police said entailed brandishing a butcher knife. While his first court appearance isn't until November 5, his Tuesday booking photo has appeared on the Lee County Sheriff's Office website. It was then scooped up by a Facebook page from a local mugshot site, prompting an online ethical and legal debate about the boy's privacy.

The Lee County Sheriff's Office said it was dispatched to the boy's Fort Meyers residence amid allegations that he was hitting his 11-year-old sister on the head with a TV remote control. His 71-year-old grandmother said he allegedly tried to pull her to the ground, too.

According to local media:

The grandmother also said the boy then got a butcher knife from a kitchen drawer and began walking toward his sister and the grandmother. The report said that the boy put the knife back after his sister called police. Both the sister and grandmother told deputies that they were in fear for their lives when the boy was pointing the knife at them and got to within four feet.

Usually, that would be the last we'd hear of the 85-pound boy's plight, but this is the digital age. Mugshots Lee County, a local mugshot site that scoops up booking pictures from the Lee County Sheriff's Office site, published the boy's name and picture on its site and Facebook page. The mugshot site explained why it published the photo within a post. (The site did not immediately respond to Ars for comment.)

"The boy is facing felony charges, which is why this mugshot was made public. Many parents think this is a good lesson for all kids, while others find it disgusting. What do you think?"

What followed was an intense online debate about the decision. Whether it was an ethical lapse in judgement is one thing, but publishing the boy's mugshot and arrest information is legal. It's a publicly available arrest record, meaning various rules and terms of services about posting pictures of youngsters without parental consent largely don't apply. What's more, the boy is, indeed, being accused of adult crimes.

Legal niceties aside, the vitriol meter about the mugshot being published was in the red zone. One commenter on the mugshot site called it a "bunch of vultures"; another said, "Maybe that will teach your punk ass a lesson."

On the mugshot site's Facebook page, both sides came to the forefront loudly. One commenter said, "I'm glad this is on here. I will be showing my daughter when she gets home so that she can see no matter the age she is responsible for her actions!" On the flip side, another commenter chimed in: "What a bunch of pedophiles you are. FUCK MUGSHOTS LEE COUNTY. YALL ARE LAME AS FUCK. WASTING YOUR DAYS PUBLICLY HUMILIATING PEOPLE. GET A LIFE."

The Lee County Sheriff's Office says on its website it publishes booking information "as a service to citizens, inmate families & friends, attorneys and others and does not detail the final disposition of criminal justice proceedings. All arrestees are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law."

In an e-mail to Ars, the agency said, "In Florida, when a juvenile is arrested on a Felony Charge, their arrest and mug shot become public record." The department added that the publication of the boy's mugshot "has nothing to do with ethical considerations and everything to do with following Florida Statute 119."