Wisconsin 2023-2024 Regular Session

Wisconsin Assembly Bill AB315 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New		Differences
1	1		LRB-2841/1
2	2		CMH:cjs
3	3		2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
4	4		2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 315
5	5		June 9, 2023 - Introduced by Representatives CALLAHAN, BEHNKE, BINSFELD,
6	6		BODDEN, BRANDTJEN, DONOVAN, DUCHOW, HURD, S. JOHNSON, MAXEY,
7	7		MICHALSKI, MURPHY, O'CONNOR, OHNSTAD, RETTINGER, SUBECK and WICHGERS,
8	8		cosponsored by Senators JAMES, BALLWEG, HUTTON, TOMCZYK and WANGGAARD.
9	9		Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety.
10	10		*AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE*
11	11		AN ACT to amend 939.617 (2) (b); and to create 948.12 (4) of the statutes;
12	12		relating to: possession of child pornography and providing a penalty.
13	13		Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
14	14		Under current law, a person is guilty of possession of child pornography if he
15	15		or she knowingly possesses, or accesses with the intent to view, film, photographic
16	16		negatives, photographs, motion pictures, videotapes, or other recordings of a child
17	17		engaged in actual or simulated sexually explicit conduct. To be convicted the person
18	18		has to know or reasonably should know that the depicted child is under the age of
19	19		18. Possession of child pornography is a Class D felony and has a three-year
20	20		mandatory minimum period of confinement in prison if the person is at least 18 and
21	21		at least 48 months older than the child who is depicted.
22	22		Under this bill, a person is guilty of possession of child pornography if he or she
23	23		knowingly receives, distributes, produces, possesses, or accesses with the intent to
24	24		view, obscene photographs, film, motion pictures, or digital or computer-generated
25	25		images or pictures that contain a visual representation that appears to depict an
26	26		actual child engaged in sexually explicit conduct although the representation does
27	27		not depict an actual child. Material is “obscene” if 1) the average person, applying
28	28		contemporary community standards, would find that it appeals to the prurient
29	29		interest if taken as a whole; 2) using contemporary community standards, it
30	30		describes or shows sexually explicit conduct in a patently offensive way; and 3) it
31	31		lacks serious literary, artistic, political, educational, or scientific value, if taken as
32	32		a whole. The felony created under this bill is a Class D felony; it has a three-year
33	33		mandatory minimum period of confinement in prison if the person is at least 18.
34	34		1
35	35		2 - 2 -2023 - 2024 Legislature LRB-2841/1
36	36		CMH:cjs
37	37		ASSEMBLY BILL 315
38	38		Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,
39	39		the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a
40	40		report.
41	41		The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
42	42		enact as follows:
43	43		SECTION 1. 939.617 (2) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
44	44		939.617 (2) (b) If the person is convicted of a violation of s. 948.12 (1m) or (2m),
45	45		the person is no more than 48 months older than the child who engaged in the
46	46		sexually explicit conduct.
47	47		SECTION 2. 948.12 (4) of the statutes is created to read:
48	48		948.12 (4) (a) In this subsection:
49	49		1. “Depiction of a purported child” means a visual representation that appears
50	50		to depict an actual child but does not depict an actual child.
51	51		2. “Obscene material” means a photograph, film, motion picture, or digital or
52	52		computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic,
53	53		mechanical, or other means, that:
54	54		a. The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would
55	55		find appeals to the prurient interest if taken as a whole.
56	56		b. Under contemporary community standards, describes or shows sexually
57	57		explicit conduct in a patently offensive way.
58	58		c. Lacks serious literary, artistic, political, educational, or scientific value, if
59	59		taken as a whole.
60	60		(b) Whoever receives, distributes, produces, possesses, or accesses in any way
61	61		with the intent to view, obscene material that contains a depiction of a purported
62	62		1
63	63		2
64	64		3
65	65		4
66	66		5
67	67		6
68	68		7
69	69		8
70	70		9
71	71		10
72	72		11
73	73		12
74	74		13
75	75		14
76	76		15
77	77		16
78	78		17
79	79		18
80	80		19 - 3 -2023 - 2024 Legislature
81	81		LRB-2841/1
82	82		CMH:cjs
83	83		SECTION 2
84	84		ASSEMBLY BILL 315
85	85		child engaging in sexually explicit conduct is guilty of a Class D felony if all of the
86	86		following circumstances apply:
87	87		1. The person knows that he or she received, distributed, produced, possessed,
88	88		or accessed the material.
89	89		2. The person knows, or reasonably should know, that the material contains a
90	90		depiction of a purported child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
91	91		(END)
92	92		1
93	93		2
94	94		3
95	95		4
96	96		5
97	97		6
98	98		7