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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5468 (as amended by House “A”)*
AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CRIME OF HARMFUL
COMMUNICATION WITH A MINOR.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a new crime of harmful communication with a
minor. Anyone who is age 21 or older is guilty of this crime when the
person uses an interactive computer service or text message to
knowingly persuade, induce, entice, or coerce a minor (i.e., anyone
under age 18 or whom the actor reasonably believes to be under age 18)
to:
1. share a photographic or recorded image of the minor (a) for
sexual gratification of the person who requests the image or (b)
which the requestor then disseminates to one or more third
persons for their sexual gratification; or
2. engage in any communication (a) that is part of a pattern of
communication or behavior designed to form or maintain an
inappropriate relationship with the minor or (b) that is “harmful
to the minor” (i.e., patently offensive to prevailing standards in
the adult community as a whole regarding what is a suitable form
of communication between an adult and a minor).
Under the bill, a violation may be deemed to have been committed
either at the place where the communication originated or where it was
received.
Under the bill, an “inappropriate relationship” is a relationship that
is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as
a whole regarding what is a suitable relationship between an adult and
a minor. “Interactive computer service” is any information service,
system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer
access by multiple users to a computer server, including a service or 2022HB-05468-R01-BA.DOCX
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system that provides access to the Internet and those systems operated
or services offered by libraries or educational institutions (CGS § 53a-
90a).
Under the bill, a harmful communication with a minor is a class A
misdemeanor (punishable by up to 364 days imprisonment, up to a
$2,000 fine, or both).
*House Amendment “A” (1) lowers the penalty from a class D felony
to a class A misdemeanor, (2) expands the elements of the crime to
include using text messages, and (3) removes the provision
criminalizing communication of an inappropriate sexual nature
between the person over age 21 and the minor.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2022
COMMITTEE ACTION
Judiciary Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 37 Nay 0 (03/31/2022)