I think on one hand you are correct, but if the court wants to claim that a child is not old enough to consensually produce pornographic imagery of themselves,

I think on one hand you are correct, but if the court wants to claim that a child is not old enough to consensually produce pornographic imagery of themselves, they must also admit that a child who takes and sends the images to another has not fully developed their reasoning skills. Same reason that minors usually get a break from the law when committing vandalism, assault, etc. So they should not get the same exact punishment, which is why I suggested counseling because unnecessary institutionalization of children is a predatory method of creating repeat offenders.