Session of 2025
HOUSE BILL No. 2183
By Committee on Judiciary
Requested by Representative Barrett
1-30
AN ACT concerning crimes, punishment and criminal procedure;
including any photograph, film, video picture, digital or computer-
generated image or picture that has been created, altered or modified by
artificial intelligence or any digital means in the definition of a visual
depiction for certain criminal offenses; modifying elements in the
crimes of sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful transmission of a
visual depiction of a child and breach of privacy; amending K.S.A. 21-
5510 and 21-5611 and K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 21-6101 and repealing the
existing sections.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. K.S.A. 21-5510 is hereby amended to read as follows: 21-
5510. (a) Except as provided in K.S.A. 21-5610 and 21-5611, and
amendments thereto, sexual exploitation of a child is:
(1) Employing, using, persuading, inducing, enticing or coercing a
child under 18 years of age, or a person whom the offender believes to be a
child under 18 years of age, to engage in sexually explicit conduct with the
intent to promote any performance;
(2) possessing any visual depiction of a child under 18 years of age
shown or heard engaging in sexually explicit conduct with intent to arouse
or satisfy the sexual desires or appeal to the prurient interest of the
offender or any other person, regardless of whether an actual child under
18 years of age was involved in the creation of the original image;
(3) being a parent, guardian or other person having custody or control
of a child under l8 years of age and knowingly permitting such child to
engage in, or assist another to engage in, sexually explicit conduct for any
purpose described in subsection (a)(1) or (2); or
(4) promoting any performance that includes sexually explicit
conduct by a child under 18 years of age, or a person whom the offender
believes to be a child under 18 years of age, knowing the character and
content of the performance.
(b) (1) Sexual exploitation of a child as defined in:
(A) Subsection (a)(2) or (a)(3) is a severity level 5, person felony;
and
(B) subsection (a)(1) or (a)(4) is a severity level 3, person felony,
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except as provided in subsection (b)(2).
(2) Sexual exploitation of a child as defined in subsection (a)(1) or (a)
(4) or attempt, conspiracy or criminal solicitation to commit sexual
exploitation of a child as defined in subsection (a)(1) or (a)(4) is an off-
grid person felony, when the offender is 18 years of age or older and the
child is under 14 years of age.
(c) If the offender is 18 years of age or older and the child is under 14
years of age, the provisions of:
(1) K.S.A. 21-5301(c), and amendments thereto, shall not apply to a
violation of attempting to commit the crime of sexual exploitation of a
child as defined in subsection (a)(1) or (a)(4);
(2) K.S.A. 21-5302(d), and amendments thereto, shall not apply to a
violation of conspiracy to commit the crime of sexual exploitation of a
child as defined in subsection (a)(1) or (a)(4); and
(3) K.S.A. 21-5303(d), and amendments thereto, shall not apply to a
violation of criminal solicitation to commit the crime of sexual
exploitation of a child as defined in subsection (a)(1) or (a)(4).
(d) As used in this section:
(1) "Sexually explicit conduct" means actual or simulated: Exhibition
in the nude; sexual intercourse or sodomy, including genital-genital, oral-
genital, anal-genital or oral-anal contact, whether between persons of the
same or opposite sex; masturbation; sado-masochistic abuse with the intent
of sexual stimulation; or lewd exhibition of the genitals, female breasts or
pubic area of any person;
(2) "promoting" means procuring, transmitting, distributing,
circulating, presenting, producing, directing, manufacturing, issuing,
publishing, displaying, exhibiting or advertising:
(A) For pecuniary profit; or
(B) with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire or appeal to the
prurient interest of the offender or any other person;
(3) "performance" means any film, photograph, negative, slide, book,
magazine or other printed or visual medium, any audio tape recording or
any photocopy, video tape, video laser disk, computer hardware, software,
floppy disk or any other computer related equipment or computer
generated image that contains or incorporates in any manner any film,
photograph, negative, photocopy, video tape or video laser disk or any
play or other live presentation;
(4) "nude" means any state of undress in which the human genitals,
pubic region, buttock or female breast, at a point below the top of the
areola, is less than completely and opaquely covered; and
(5) "visual depiction" means any photograph, film, video picture,
digital or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced
by electronic, mechanical or other means. "Visual depiction" includes any
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photograph, film, video picture, digital or computer-generated image or
picture that has been created, in whole or in part, altered or modified by
artificial intelligence or any digital means to appear to depict or purport
to depict a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
(e) The provisions of this section shall not apply to possession of a
visual depiction of a child in a state of nudity if the person possessing such
visual depiction is the child who is the subject of such visual depiction.
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 21-5611 is hereby amended to read as follows: 21-
5611. (a) Unlawful transmission of a visual depiction of a child is
knowingly transmitting a visual depiction of a child 12 or more years of
age but less than 18 years of age in a state of nudity when the offender is
less than 19 years of age.
(b) Aggravated unlawful transmission of a visual depiction of a child
is:
(1) Knowingly transmitting a visual depiction of a child 12 or more
years of age but less than 18 years of age in a state of nudity:
(A) With the intent to harass, embarrass, intimidate, defame or
otherwise inflict emotional, psychological or physical harm;
(B) for pecuniary or tangible gain; or
(C) with the intent to exhibit or transmit such visual depiction to more
than one person; and
(2) when the offender is less than 19 years of age.
(c) (1) Unlawful transmission of a visual depiction of a child is a:
(A) Class A person misdemeanor, except as provided in subsection (c)
(1)(B); and
(B) severity level 10, person felony upon a second or subsequent
conviction.
(2) Aggravated unlawful transmission of a visual depiction of a child
is a:
(A) Severity level 9, person felony, except as provided in subsection
(c)(2)(B); and
(B) severity level 7, person felony upon a second or subsequent
conviction.
(d) It shall be a rebuttable presumption that an offender had the intent
to harass, embarrass, intimidate, defame or otherwise inflict emotional,
psychological or physical harm if the offender transmitted a visual
depiction of a person other than such child in a state of nudity to more than
one person.
(e) The provisions of this section shall not apply to transmission of a
visual depiction of a child in a state of nudity by the child who is the
subject of such visual depiction.
(f) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a visual depiction
of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct or a visual depiction that
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constitutes obscenity as defined in K.S.A. 21-6401(f)(1), and amendments
thereto.
(g) As used in this section and K.S.A. 21-5610, and amendments
thereto:
(1) "Sexually explicit conduct" means actual or simulated: Sexual
intercourse or sodomy, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital
or oral-anal contact, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex;
masturbation and sado-masochistic abuse for the purpose of sexual
stimulation;
(2) "state of nudity" means any state of undress in which the human
genitals, pubic region, buttock or female breast, at a point below the top of
the areola, is less than completely and opaquely covered;
(3) "transmission" means any form of communication, including, but
not limited to, physical transmission of paper and electronic transmission
that creates a record that may be retained and reviewed by a recipient
thereof, and that may be directly reproduced in paper form by such a
recipient through an automated process. Transmission also includes a
request to receive a transmission of a visual depiction; and
(4) "visual depiction" means any photograph, film, video picture,
digital or computer-generated image or picture made or produced by
electronic, mechanical or other means. "Visual depiction" includes any
photograph, film, video picture, digital or computer-generated image or
picture that has been created, in whole or in part, altered or modified by
artificial intelligence or any digital means to appear to depict or purport
to depict a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
Sec. 3. K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 21-6101 is hereby amended to read as
follows: 21-6101. (a) Breach of privacy is knowingly and without lawful
authority:
(1) Intercepting, without the consent of the sender or receiver, a
message by telephone, telegraph, letter or other means of private
communication;
(2) divulging, without the consent of the sender or receiver, the
existence or contents of such message if such person knows that the
message was illegally intercepted, or if such person illegally learned of the
message in the course of employment with an agency in transmitting such
message;
(3) entering with intent to listen surreptitiously to private
conversations in a private place or to observe the personal conduct of any
other person or persons entitled to privacy therein;
(4) installing or using outside or inside a private place any device for
hearing, recording, amplifying or broadcasting sounds originating in such
place, which sounds would not ordinarily be audible or comprehensible
without the use of such device, without the consent of the person or
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persons entitled to privacy therein;
(5) installing or using any device or equipment for the interception of
any telephone, telegraph or other wire or wireless communication without
the consent of the person in possession or control of the facilities for such
communication;
(6) installing or using a camcorder, motion picture camera or
photographic camera of any type to videotape, film, photograph or record,
by electronic or other means, another identifiable person under or through
the clothing being worn by that other person or another identifiable person
who is nude or in a state of undress, for the purpose of viewing the body
of, or the undergarments worn by, that other person, without the consent or
knowledge of that other person, with the intent to invade the privacy of
that other person, under circumstances in which that other person has a
reasonable expectation of privacy;
(7) disseminating or permitting the dissemination of any videotape,
photograph, film or image obtained in violation of subsection (a)(6); or
(8) disseminating any videotape, photograph, film or image of
another identifiable person 18 years of age or older who is nude or
engaged in sexual activity and under circumstances in which such
identifiable person had a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the intent
to harass, threaten or intimidate such identifiable person, and such
identifiable person did not consent to such dissemination. This includes
disseminating any videotape, photograph, film or image that has been
created, in whole or in part, altered or modified by artificial intelligence
or any digital means to appear to depict or purport to depict such
identifiable person, regardless of whether such identifiable person was
involved in the creation of the original image.
(b) Breach of privacy as defined in:
(1) Subsection (a)(1) through (a)(5) is a class A nonperson
misdemeanor;
(2) subsection (a)(6) or (a)(8) is a:
(A) Severity level 8, person felony, except as provided in subsection
(b)(2)(B); and
(B) severity level 5, person felony upon a second or subsequent
conviction within the previous five years; and
(3) subsection (a)(7) is a severity level 5, person felony.
(c) Subsection (a)(1) shall not apply to messages overheard through a
regularly installed instrument on a telephone party line or on an extension.
(d) The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
(1) An operator of a switchboard, or any officer, employee or agent of
any public utility providing telephone communications service, whose
facilities are used in the transmission of a communication, to intercept,
disclose or use that communication in the normal course of employment
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while engaged in any activity which is incident to the rendition of public
utility service or to the protection of the rights of property of such public
utility;
(2) a provider of an interactive computer service, as defined in 47
U.S.C. § 230, for content provided by another person;
(3) a radio common carrier, as defined in K.S.A. 66-1,143, and
amendments thereto; and
(4) a local exchange carrier or telecommunications carrier as defined
in K.S.A. 66-1,187, and amendments thereto.
(e) The provisions of subsection (a)(8) shall not apply to a person
acting with a bona fide and lawful scientific, educational, governmental,
news or other similar public purpose.
(f) As used in this section, "private place" means a place where one
may reasonably expect to be safe from uninvited intrusion or surveillance.
Sec. 4. K.S.A. 21-5510 and 21-5611 and K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 21-6101
are hereby repealed.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
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