SB 69 – This act modifies various provisions relating to pornography. This act requires law enforcement officers who recover images or movies of child pornography during a criminal investigation to:
(1) Provide the material to the Child Victim Identification Program at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children;
(2) Request contact information from the program for the law enforcement agency that reported the initial identification of the child in order to verify the identity and age of the victim; and
(3) Provide case information and contact information to the program in any case where the officer identifies a previously unidentified victim.
When a law enforcement officer submits a case for prosecution involving child pornography and the material depicts an identified victim, the officer must submit the contact information for the law enforcement agency that reported the initial identification of the child to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to the prosecuting attorney.
Any person less than fourteen years of age, who was a victim of certain pornography offenses and suffered physical or psychological injury as a result of the production, promotion, or possession of such material, shall be entitled to bring a civil action against the person convicted of the crime. A prevailing plaintiff, under this provision, shall recover actual damages and court costs. Actual damages shall be deemed to be at least $150,000. Any such action must be commenced within 3 years after the later of: 1) the final order in the criminal case; 2) notification by law enforcement to the victim or parents of the pornographic material; or 3) the victim reaching eighteen years of age.
It is not a defense to this cause of action that the defendant did not know the victim or commit the abuse depicted.
This act is similar to SB 806 (2010).
MEGHAN LUECKE