HB 2115
Initials NM/JL House Engrossed
☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal Note
ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Fifty-seventh Legislature
First Regular Session
House: JUD DPA 9-0-0-0
HB 2115: observing nude minor; sexual gratification
Sponsor: Representative Nguyen, LD 1
House Engrossed
Overview
Establishes knowingly observing a nude minor for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct
for a person's sexual gratification as a form of criminal sexual exploitation of a minor.
History
Under current law, a person commits sexual exploitation of a minor by knowingly:
1) creating any visual depiction in which a minor is engaged in exploitive exhibition or
other sexual conduct;
2) distributing or possessing any visual depiction in which a minor is engaged in
exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct; or
3) possessing or distributing a child sex doll that uses the likeness of a real minor under
the age of 12 with the intent to replicate the physical features of said minor (A.R.S. §
13-3553).
Sexual exploitation of a minor is a class 2 felony and is punishable as a dangerous crime
against children (DCAC) if the minor is under 15 years of age (A.R.S. § 13-3553). DCACs are
a category of criminal offenses that may be treated differently when they involve a defendant
who is at least 18 years old (or tried as an adult) and a victim who is below 15 years old (or
an unborn child). Statute specifies numerous offenses that may be punishable as a DCAC,
meaning that they can be subject to increased prison sentences and special provisions
regarding the defendant's eligibility for probation or early release (A.R.S. § 13-705).
Under A.R.S. § 13-1407, subsection E (commonly referred to as the Romeo and Juliet Law),
it is a defense to a prosecution for certain offenses involving sexual conduct with a minor if
all of the following are met:
1) the victim is 15, 16 or 17 years old;
2) the defendant is under 19 years old or attending high school and no more than 24
months older than the victim; and
3) the conduct is consensual.
Provisions
1. Adds that a person commits sexual exploitation of a minor by knowingly observing a nude
minor for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct for the person's sexual gratification.
(Sec. 2)
2. Specifies that this new form of sexual exploitation of a minor does not apply to consensual
conduct between minors who are both at least 15-17 years old. (Sec. 1)
3. Makes the Romeo and Juliet Law applicable in prosecutions for this new form of sexual
exploitation of a minor. (Sec. 1)