HB 1562-FN – AS INTRODUCED

2012 SESSION

12-2643

04/10

HOUSE BILL 1562-FN

AN ACT establishing a criminal penalty for sending or receiving sexually explicit text messages or images by using a cell phone or other mobile device.

SPONSORS: Rep. Gandia, Hills 27

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

ANALYSIS

This bill establishes a criminal penalty for sexting by using a cell phone to transmit or receive sexually explicit images or text messages.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

12-2643

04/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve

AN ACT establishing a criminal penalty for sending or receiving sexually explicit text messages or images by using a cell phone or other mobile device.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Section; Public Indecency; Sexting. Amend RSA 645 by inserting after section 3 the following new section:

645:4 Sexting.

I. In this section:

(a) “Indecent visual depiction” means any image, photograph, videotape, film, or other reproduction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct and includes data stored on any computer, telecommunication device or other electronic storage media which is capable of conversion into a visual image.

(b) “Minor” means a person under 17 years of age.

(c) “Sexually explicit conduct” means masturbation or lewd exhibition of the genitals, pubic hair, anus or vulva, or female breast of a minor.

(d) “Telecommunication device” means a device which possesses data, telephonic, video, or sound transmission capabilities apart from any system to which such device may be connected for the sending or receiving of voice, sound, data, or video transmissions.

(e) “Transmit” means to send, distribute, transfer, or disseminate by use of a computer or telecommunication device.

II.(a) No minor shall knowingly and voluntarily use a computer or telecommunication device to transmit an indecent visual depiction of himself or herself to another person.

(b) No minor shall knowingly possess an indecent visual depiction that was transmitted in violation of subparagraph (a) by another minor.

III. Paragraph II shall not apply to a minor if all of the following conditions apply:

(a) The minor did not solicit the indecent visual depiction;

(b) The minor took reasonable steps to report the indecent visual depiction to a school official or a law enforcement officer; and

(c) The minor who received the indecent visual depiction did not transmit it to another person.

IV.(a) A minor who violates the provisions of paragraph II shall be guilty of a violation and subject to a fine not to exceed $150. The court may suspend the imposition of this sentence if the minor agrees to probation with a minimum condition that the minor shall perform 2 8-hour days of court-approved community service.

(b) A minor who is convicted of a second or subsequent offense under paragraph II shall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor and subject to a fine not to exceed $350. The court may suspend the imposition of this sentence if the minor agrees to probation with a minimum condition that the minor shall perform 5 8-hour days of court-approved community service.

V. No minor who is convicted under this section shall be required to register as a criminal offender under RSA 651-B.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2013.

LBAO

12-2643

12/13/11

HB 1562-FN - FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT establishing a criminal penalty for sending or receiving sexually explicit text messages or images by using a cell phone or other mobile device.

FISCAL IMPACT:

METHODOLOGY: