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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5468
February Session, 2022
AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CRIME OF HARMFUL
COMMUNICATION WITH A MINOR.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2022) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Minor" means any person under eighteen years of age, or who 2
the actor reasonably believes to be under eighteen years of age; 3
(2) "Interactive computer service" has the same meaning as provided 4
in section 53a-90a of the general statutes; 5
(3) "Inappropriate relationship" means a relationship that is patently 6
offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole 7
with respect to what is a suitable relationship between an adult and a 8
minor; and 9
(4) "Harmful to the minor" means communication with a minor by 10
means of an interactive computer device that is patently offensive to 11
prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to 12
what is a suitable form of communication between an adult and a minor. 13
(b) A person, who is twenty-one years of age or older, is guilty of 14
harmful communication with a minor when such person uses an 15
interactive computer service to knowingly persuade, induce, entice or 16 Substitute Bill No. 5468
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coerce a minor, to: (1) Share a photographic or other recorded image of 17
the minor for the purpose of providing sexual gratification to the person 18
who requests that the image be shared, (2) share a photographic or other 19
recorded image of the minor, which the person who requests the image 20
then disseminates to one or more third persons for the purpose of 21
providing sexual gratification to such third persons, (3) engage in any 22
communication of an inappropriate sexual nature, (4) engage in any 23
communication that is part of a pattern of communication or behavior 24
designed to form or maintain an inappropriate relationship, or (5) 25
engage in any communication that is harmful to the minor. 26
(c) For the purposes of this section, a violation may be deemed to have 27
been committed either at the place where the communication originated 28
or at the place where it was received. 29
(d) Harmful communication with a minor is a class D felony.30
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2022 New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(b), redundant language was deleted.
JUD Joint Favorable Subst.