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Judiciary panel reopens and amends bill on materials depicting minors, narrows top-tier penalty and defines “minor” to include AI images
Summary
After a successful motion to reconsider, the committee amended House Bill 1386 to change the statutory definition of “minor,” remove a provision raising an offense to a class A felony for material depicting infants/toddlers, and struck an internet waiver. The committee recommended the bill do-pass as amended.
The House Judiciary Committee reconsidered House Bill 1386, adopted several amendments and recommended the bill for passage as amended.
Representative Olsen moved to reconsider the bill after a prior committee vote produced an 8–6 outcome. The motion to reconsider carried 11–0. Olsen explained the primary amendment: revising the definition of “minor” to mean “an individual under 18 years of age or a computer generated image used, created, adapted, etcetera, to appear to depict an individual under 18 years of age by face, likeness, or other distinguishing characteristics.” He said that change followed work with legislative counsel and reflected how the attorney general’s office viewed the subject.
Committee members debated whether possession of material that depicts an infant or toddler should carry a class A felony penalty. Representative McLeod and others expressed concern about removing the higher class A felony for images depicting very young children; other committee members worried that elevating possession of a computer-generated image to the highest felony category would be inequitable because no real child was harmed. Representative Wolff argued the quantity of images (for example, 20 or more) indicates a higher risk of involvement with real-child abuse and favored steeper penalties for those cases.
The committee also considered and then removed an “internet waiver” clause (page 3, lines 8–12), voting 6–5 to strike it. Later the committee adopted Olsen’s amended definition of “minor” (page 1, lines 11–13) by roll call, 11–0. With those amendments adopted, Representative Olsen moved a do-pass as amended; the committee approved the motion by roll call 7–4 with three members absent.
The bill as amended (1) defines “minor” to include individuals under 18 and computer-generated images that appear to depict those individuals; (2) removes the previously proposed class A felony elevation tied to materials depicting infants or toddlers; and (3) removes an internet-related waiver provision. Representative Olsen will remain the bill carrier.
