Possession of child pornography and providing a penalty

What it does

Summary by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

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.

Who's behind it

5 senators are its authors⁠. All 5 are Republicans.

18 more lawmakers signed on in support⁠.

Versions and amendments

Every text the Legislature printed for this bill, including proposed changes. Each opens on the Legislature's site.

• Amendment Histories
• LC Amendment Memo