House File 563 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 563 BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 172) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the penalties for the criminal offense of 1 sexual exploitation of a minor by the purchase or possession 2 of child pornography. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2462HV (1) 85 jm/rj

H.F. 563 Section 1. Section 728.12, subsection 3, Code 2013, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 3. a. It shall be unlawful to knowingly purchase or possess 3 a visual depiction of a minor engaging in a prohibited sexual 4 act or the simulation of a prohibited sexual act. A visual 5 depiction containing pictorial representations of different 6 minors shall be prosecuted and punished as separate offenses 7 for each pictorial representation of a different minor in the 8 visual depiction. However, violations of this subsection 9 involving multiple visual depictions of the same minor shall be 10 prosecuted and punished as one offense. A Except as provided 11 in paragraph “b” , a person who commits a violation of this 12 subsection commits an aggravated misdemeanor a class “D” felony 13 for a first offense and a class “D” “C” felony for a second 14 or subsequent offense. For purposes of this subsection , an 15 offense is considered a second or subsequent offense if, prior 16 to the person’s having been convicted under this subsection , 17 any of the following apply: 18 a. (1) The person has a prior conviction or deferred 19 judgment under this subsection . 20 b. (2) The person has a prior conviction, deferred 21 judgment, or the equivalent of a deferred judgment in another 22 jurisdiction for an offense substantially similar to the 23 offense defined in this subsection . The court shall judicially 24 notice the statutes of other states that define offenses 25 substantially similar to the offense defined in this subsection 26 and that therefore can be considered corresponding statutes. 27 b. For a first offense violation of paragraph “a” , a person 28 twenty-one years of age or younger commits an aggravated 29 misdemeanor if the minor shown in the visual depiction gave or 30 sent the visual depiction to the person without being solicited 31 to do so by the person who received it, the person is not more 32 than four years older than the minor, and the person maintains 33 possession of the visual depiction but does not give, send, or 34 disseminate the visual depiction to another. 35 -1- LSB 2462HV (1) 85 jm/rj 1/ 3

H.F. 563 EXPLANATION 1 This bill relates to the penalties for the criminal offense 2 of sexual exploitation of a minor by the purchase or possession 3 of child pornography. 4 The bill increases the criminal penalty in most instances 5 for knowingly purchasing or possessing a visual depiction of 6 a minor engaged in a prohibited sexual or simulated sexual 7 act. For a first offense violation, the bill increases the 8 criminal penalty from an aggravated misdemeanor to a class 9 “D” felony. However, for a first offense violation, a person 10 21 years of age or younger commits an aggravated misdemeanor 11 if the minor shown in the visual depiction gave or sent the 12 visual depiction, unsolicited, the person is not more than four 13 years older than the minor, and the person maintains the visual 14 depiction but does not give, send, or disseminate the visual 15 depiction to another. For any second or subsequent violation, 16 the bill increases the criminal penalty from a class “D” felony 17 to a class “C” felony. 18 Under the bill, by increasing the criminal penalty from a 19 class “D” felony to a class “C” felony, a person convicted 20 of a second or subsequent offense of sexual exploitation 21 of a minor in violation of Code section 728.12(3) is also 22 required to serve a special sentence for the rest of the 23 person’s life under Code section 903B.1. Current law requires 24 a person convicted of a first or subsequent offense of sexual 25 exploitation of a minor in violation of Code section 728.12(3) 26 to serve a 10-year special sentence under Code section 903B.2. 27 A person serving a special sentence is required to register 28 as a sex offender for a period equal to the term of the special 29 sentence, but in no case shall the person register as a sex 30 offender for less than 10 years pursuant to Code section 31 692A.106(2). 32 An aggravated misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for 33 no more than two years and a fine of at least $625 but not more 34 than $6,250. A class “D” felony is punishable by confinement 35 -2- LSB 2462HV (1) 85 jm/rj 2/ 3

H.F. 563 for no more than five years and a fine of at least $750 but 1 not more than $7,500. A class “C” felony is punishable by 2 confinement for no more than 10 years and a fine of at least 3 $1,000 but not more than $10,000. 4 -3- LSB 2462HV (1) 85 jm/rj 3/ 3