AB 315

Under current law, a person is guilty of possession of child pornography if he

or she knowingly possesses, or accesses with the intent to view, film, photographic

negatives, photographs, motion pictures, videotapes, or other recordings of a child

engaged in actual or simulated sexually explicit conduct. To be convicted the person

has to know or reasonably should know that the depicted child is under the age of

18. Possession of child pornography is a Class D felony and has a three-year

mandatory minimum period of confinement in prison if the person is at least 18 and

at least 48 months older than the child who is depicted.

Under this bill, a person is guilty of possession of child pornography if he or she

knowingly receives, distributes, produces, possesses, or accesses with the intent to

view, obscene photographs, film, motion pictures, or digital or computer-generated

images or pictures that contain a visual representation that appears to depict an

actual child engaged in sexually explicit conduct although the representation does

not depict an actual child. Material is “obscene” if 1) the average person, applying

contemporary community standards, would find that it appeals to the prurient

interest if taken as a whole; 2) using contemporary community standards, it

describes or shows sexually explicit conduct in a patently offensive way; and 3) it

lacks serious literary, artistic, political, educational, or scientific value, if taken as

a whole. The felony created under this bill is a Class D felony; it has a three-year

mandatory minimum period of confinement in prison if the person is at least 18.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,

the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a

report.