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90_HB3035
720 ILCS 5/11-20.3 new
Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Creates the offense of
knowing dissemination of obscene material to a minor by
computer. Establishes certain evidence that may be
admissible in prosecutions for the offense. Establishes an
affirmative defense. Penalty is a Class 4 felony.
LRB9010609RCpc
LRB9010609RCpc
1 AN ACT to amend the Criminal Code of 1961 by adding
2 Section 11-20.3.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by
6 adding Section 11-20.3 as follows:
7 (720 ILCS 5/11-20.3 new)
8 Sec. 11-20.3. Knowing dissemination of obscene material
9 to a minor by computer.
10 (a) A person commits the offense of knowing
11 dissemination of obscene material to a minor by computer who:
12 (1) knowing the character and content of the
13 communication which, in whole or in part, depicts actual
14 or simulated sexual intercourse with any person or
15 animal, any act of actual or simulated sexual contact
16 involving the sex organs of any person or animal, any act
17 of actual or simulated masturbation, any act of actual or
18 simulated lewd fondling or caressing, any act of actual
19 or simulated sadistic, masochistic, or sadomasochistic
20 abuse in any sexual context, or any lewd exhibition of
21 the unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female
22 breast of any person; and
23 (2) initiates the communication, by computer or
24 otherwise, with a person known to the defendant, by
25 computer or otherwise, to be a minor under the age of 18;
26 and
27 (3) disseminates the communication to the minor by
28 computer, Internet, World Wide Web, or other commercial
29 or noncommercial on-line service.
30 (b) Admissibility of evidence. In any prosecution for
31 an offense under this Section evidence shall be admissible to
-2- LRB9010609RCpc
1 show:
2 (1) The character of the audience for which the
3 communication was designed or to which it was directed;
4 (2) What the predominant appeal of the
5 communication would be for ordinary adults or a special
6 audience, and what effect, if any, it would probably have
7 on the behavior of such people;
8 (3) The artistic, literary, scientific, educational
9 or other merits of the communication, or absence of those
10 merits;
11 (4) The degree, if any, of public acceptance of the
12 communication in this State;
13 (5) Appeal to prurient interest, or absence of that
14 appeal, in advertising or other promotion of the
15 communication;
16 (6) Purpose of the author, creator, publisher, or
17 disseminator.
18 (c) Affirmative defense. In any prosecution for knowing
19 dissemination of obscene material to a minor by computer, it
20 shall be an affirmative defense that: (1) the defendant made
21 a reasonable effort to ascertain the true age of the minor;
22 and (2) the defendant was unable to do so as a result of
23 actions taken by the minor, and (3) the defendant made no
24 attempt to conceal his or her true age or identity.
25 (d) Sentence. Knowing dissemination of obscene material
26 to a minor by computer is a Class 4 felony.