Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2873 To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize the knowing consent of the visual depiction, or live transmission, of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 21, 2019 Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize the knowing consent of the visual depiction, or live trans- mission, of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Against 4 Child Exploitation Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN. 6 Section 2251 of title 18, United States Code, is 7 amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2873.IH H2873 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2873 IH (1) by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read 1 as follows: 2 ‘‘(a) Any person who, in a circumstance described in 3 subsection (f), knowingly— 4 ‘‘(1) employs, uses, persuades, induces, entices, 5 or coerces a minor to engage in any sexually explicit 6 conduct for the purpose of producing any visual de- 7 piction of such conduct, or transmitting a live visual 8 depiction of such conduct; 9 ‘‘(2) produces or causes to be produced a visual 10 depiction of a minor engaged in any sexually explicit 11 conduct where the production of such visual depic- 12 tion involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually 13 explicit conduct and such visual depiction is of such 14 conduct; 15 ‘‘(3) transmits or causes to be transmitted a 16 live visual depiction of a minor engaged in any sexu- 17 ally explicit conduct; 18 ‘‘(4) has a minor assist any other person to en- 19 gage in any sexually explicit conduct during the 20 commission of an offense set forth in paragraphs (1) 21 through (3) of this subsection; or 22 ‘‘(5) transports any minor in or affecting inter- 23 state or foreign commerce with the intent that such 24 minor be used in the production or live transmission 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2873.IH H2873 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2873 IH of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in any sexu- 1 ally explicit conduct, 2 shall be punished as provided under subsection (e). 3 ‘‘(b) Any parent, legal guardian, or person having 4 custody or control of a minor who, in a circumstance de- 5 scribed in subsection (f), knowingly permits such minor 6 to engage in, or to assist any other person to engage in, 7 sexually explicit conduct knowing that a visual depiction 8 of such conduct will be produced or transmitted shall be 9 punished as provided under subsection (e).’’; 10 (2) in subsection (c)— 11 (A) in paragraph (1)— 12 (i) by striking ‘‘employs, uses, per- 13 suades, induces, entices, or coerces any 14 minor to engage in, or who has a minor as- 15 sist any other person to engage in, any 16 sexually explicit conduct’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘engages in any conduct described in para- 18 graphs (1) through (5) of subsection (a)’’; 19 and 20 (ii) by striking ‘‘, for the purpose of 21 producing any visual depiction of such con- 22 duct,’’; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2873.IH H2873 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2873 IH (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting after 1 ‘‘transported’’ the following: ‘‘or transmitted’’; 2 and 3 (C) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting after 4 ‘‘transports’’ the following; ‘‘or transmits’’; 5 (3) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(f) The circumstances referred to in subsections (a) 7 and (b) are— 8 ‘‘(1) that the person knows or has reason to 9 know that such visual depiction will be— 10 ‘‘(A) transported or transmitted using any 11 means or facility of interstate or foreign com- 12 merce; 13 ‘‘(B) transported or transmitted in or af- 14 fecting interstate or foreign commerce; or 15 ‘‘(C) mailed; 16 ‘‘(2) the visual depiction was produced or trans- 17 mitted using materials that have been mailed, or 18 shipped or transported in or affecting interstate or 19 foreign commerce by any means, including by com- 20 puter; 21 ‘‘(3) such visual depiction has actually been— 22 ‘‘(A) transported or transmitted using any 23 means or facility of interstate or foreign com- 24 merce; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2873.IH H2873 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2873 IH ‘‘(B) transported or transmitted in or af- 1 fecting interstate or foreign commerce; or 2 ‘‘(C) mailed; or 3 ‘‘(4) any part of the offense occurred in a terri- 4 tory or possession of the United States or within the 5 special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the 6 United States. 7 ‘‘(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sec- 8 tion, no criminal charge under subsection (a)(3) may be 9 brought against an electronic communication service pro- 10 vider or remote computing service provider unless such 11 provider has intentionally transmitted or caused to be 12 transmitted a visual depiction with actual knowledge that 13 such depiction is of a minor engaged in sexually explicit 14 conduct, nor may any such criminal charge be brought if 15 barred by the provisions of section 2258B.’’. 16 SEC. 3. LIMITED LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN PERSONS WHEN 17 RESPONDING TO SEARCH WARRANTS OR 18 OTHER LEGAL PROCESS. 19 Section 2258B of title 18, United States Code, is 20 amended— 21 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘from the re- 22 sponse to a search warrant or other legal process 23 or’’ before ‘‘from the performance’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2873.IH H2873 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2873 IH (2) in subsection (b)(2)(C), by inserting ‘‘the 1 response to a search warrant or other legal process 2 or to’’ before ‘‘the performance of any responsi- 3 bility’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2873.IH H2873 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS