Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

As Passed By The Senate

03/26/24

S. 995

Introduced by Senators Hutto, Shealy, Reichenbach, Devine, Senn, McLeod, Rankin, Garrett, Alexander, and Setzler

S. Printed 03/26/24--S.                                                                        [SEC 3/27/2024 11:54 AM]

Read the first time January 25, 2024

________

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 16-15-375, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS APPLICABLE TO SECTIONS 16-15-385 THROUGH 16-15-425, SO AS TO DEFINE IDENTIFIABLE MINOR AND MORPHED IMAGE; BY AMENDING SECTION 16-15-395, RELATING TO FIRST DEGREE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF A MINOR, SO AS TO INCLUDE MORPHED IMAGES OF IDENTIFIABLE CHILDREN AS AN OFFENSE; BY AMENDING SECTION 16-15-405, RELATING TO SECOND DEGREE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF A MINOR, SO AS TO INCLUDE MORPHED IMAGES OF IDENTIFIABLE CHILDREN AS AN OFFENSE; BY AMENDING SECTION 16-15-410, RELATING TO THIRD DEGREE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF A MINOR, SO AS TO INCLUDE MORPHED IMAGES OF IDENTIFIABLE CHILDREN AS AN OFFENSE; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 23-3-430, RELATING TO THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY, SO AS TO INCLUDE THOSE GUILTY OF CRIMINAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF A MINOR IN THE FIRST, SECOND, OR THIRD DEGREE AS A TIER II OFFENDER.

    Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1.  Section 16-15-375 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

    Section 16-15-375. The following definitions apply to Section 16-15-385, disseminating or exhibiting to minors harmful material or performances;  Section 16-15-387, employing a person under the age of eighteen years to appear in a state of sexually explicit nudity in a public place;  Section 16-15-395, first degree sexual exploitation of a minor;  Section 16-15-405, second degree sexual exploitation of a minor;  Section 16-15-410, third degree sexual exploitation of a minor;  Section 16-15-415, promoting prostitution of a minor;  and Section 16-15-425, participating in prostitution of a minor.

    (1) "Harmful to minors" means that quality of any material or performance that depicts sexually explicit nudity or sexual activity and that, taken as a whole, has the following characteristics:

       (a) the average adult person applying contemporary community standards would find that the material or performance has a predominant tendency to appeal to a prurient interest of minors in sex;  and

       (b) the average adult person applying contemporary community standards would find that the depiction of sexually explicit nudity or sexual activity in the material or performance is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community concerning what is suitable for minors;  and

       (c) to a reasonable person, the material or performance taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

    (2) "Material" means pictures, drawings, video recordings, films, digital electronic files, computer generated images or pictures, or other visual depictions or representations but not material consisting entirely of written words.

    (3) "Minor" means an individual who is less than eighteen years old.

    (4) "Prostitution" means engaging or offering to engage in sexual activity with or for another in exchange for anything of value.

    (5) "Sexual activity" includes any of the following acts or simulations thereof:

       (a) masturbation, whether done alone or with another human or animal;

       (b) vaginal, anal, or oral intercourse, whether done with another human or an animal;

       (c) touching, in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or sexual abuse, of the clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, or buttocks of another person or the clothed or unclothed breasts of a human female;

       (d) an act or condition that depicts bestiality, sado-masochistic abuse, meaning flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments or in a costume which reveals the pubic hair, anus, vulva, genitals, or female breast nipples, or the condition of being fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained on the part of the one so clothed;

       (e) excretory functions;

       (f) the insertion of any part of a person's body, other than the male sexual organ, or of any object into another person's anus or vagina, except when done as part of a recognized medical procedure.

    (6) "Sexually explicit nudity" means the showing of:

       (a) uncovered, or less than opaquely covered human genitals, pubic area, or buttocks, or the nipple or any portion of the areola of the human female breast;  or

       (b) covered human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.

    (7) "Identifiable minor"

       (a) means a person who:

           (1) was a minor at the time the image was created, adapted, or modified, or whose image as a minor was used in the creating, adapting, or modifying of the image; and

           (2) is recognizable as an actual person by the person's face, likeness, or other distinguishing characteristic, such as a unique birthmark, or other recognizable feature.

       (b) shall not be construed to require proof of the actual identity of the identifiable minor.

    (8) "Morphed image" means any visual depiction or representation, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct, where such visual depiction or representation has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexual conduct or sexually explicit activity or appearing in a state o