House committee hears bill to criminalize AI‑generated sexual depictions of minors and extend statute of limitations

Olympia, March 17 — The House Community Safety Committee on Monday held a public hearing on Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5105, which would broaden state criminal laws to cover digitally fabricated or altered sexual depictions of minors and change related defenses, immunities and time limits for prosecution.

The bill's sponsor, state Senator Tina Orwell, said the measure is intended to give law enforcement new tools to address a growing volume of child sexual abuse material on the internet, including images altered or produced with artificial intelligence. "This bill is about giving [law enforcement] the tools they need to do that work and about protecting kids," Orwell said.

Corey Patton, staff to the committee, summarized the bill's principal changes: (1) expand offenses involving depictions of minors so they include digitally created or altered images that are obscene even when no identifiable minor appears; (2) make the defenses and immunities for prosecutions involving fabricated depictions generally the same subject to two exceptions tied to whether a victim is identifiable; and (3)…