Bill to criminalize fabricated sexual depictions of minors draws broad support and First Amendment concerns

Senate Bill 5105, sponsored by Sen. Tina Orwell, drew extensive testimony Jan. 16 before the Washington Senate Law & Justice Committee. The bill would change state law governing depictions of minors by treating certain fabricated or digitized images depicting minors in sexually explicit conduct as criminally prosecutable without requiring proof that an actual, identifiable child appears in the image, provided the depiction meets an obscenity standard.

Sponsor Orwell described a dramatic increase in fabricated child sexual‑abuse material on the internet and said investigators face technical barriers when perpetrators slightly alter images to evade detection. "It is impeding [ICAC's] ability to do work," Orwell said, citing millions of instances of such material identified in 2023 and noting that fabricated material can incorporate parts of real children's images.

Prosecutors…