Subcommittee advances felony for obscene visual depictions of minors in drawings and cartoons

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee advanced S.28, a bill that would create a new felony offense for knowingly producing, distributing, or possessing with intent to distribute obscene visual representations that depict minors engaged in explicit sexual activity.

Committee staff described the bill as criminalizing obscene cartoons, drawings, sculptures and paintings that depict minors in sexually explicit conduct if the depiction is obscene. Staff said the measure would make production or distribution a felony punishable by not less than two years nor more than ten years, with a mandatory minimum that cannot be suspended and no eligibility for parole. Knowingly possessing an obscene visual representation of a child would likewise be a felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. The bill would list such convictions as tier 1 on the state's sex-offender registry.

Staff told the committee S.28 mirrors a senate measure passed last year (S.996) and includes registry-removal language consistent with the bills discussed in the hearing: offenders could request removal after 15 or 25 years from termination of sentence or supervision in certain circumstances. The presenter also offered a technical amendment that adjusts punctuation and aligns subsection language to the previously passed senate language.

Committee members asked procedural questions and then moved and approved the technical amendment and the bill in subcommittee by voice vote with no recorded opposition.

The subcommittee recorded adoption of the amendment and advancement of S.28 to the next legislative step. Supporters said the bill updates criminal law to cover non-photographic depictions that advocates say can be used to sexualize minors and to close a perceived statutory gap.

The subcommittee approved the technical amendment and voted the bill out of committee; the bill will proceed according to legislative scheduling.