Minnesota Session Laws - 1999, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 217-S.F.No. 1404 
                  An act relating to crime; providing criminal penalties 
                  for possessing and disseminating pornographic work 
                  depicting a minor; including computer-generated or 
                  computer-altered images within the definition of 
                  pornographic work; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, 
                  sections 617.246, subdivisions 1, 2, 3, 4, and by 
                  adding a subdivision; and 617.247, subdivisions 1, 2, 
                  3, 4, and by adding a subdivision. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 617.246, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) For the purpose of this 
        section, the terms defined in this subdivision have the meanings 
        given them. 
           (b) "Minor" means any person under the age of 18. 
           (c) "Promote" means to produce, direct, publish, 
        manufacture, issue, or advertise. 
           (d) "Sexual performance" means any play, dance or other 
        exhibition presented before an audience or for purposes of 
        visual or mechanical reproduction which depicts that uses a 
        minor to depict actual or simulated sexual conduct as defined by 
        clause (e). 
           (e) "Sexual conduct" means any of the following if the 
        depiction involves a minor: 
           (i) (1) an act of sexual intercourse, normal or perverted, 
        actual or simulated, including genital-genital, anal-genital, or 
        oral-genital intercourse, whether between human beings or 
        between a human being and an animal.; 
           (ii) (2) sadomasochistic abuse, meaning flagellation, 
        torture, or similar demeaning acts inflicted by or upon a person 
        who is nude or clad in undergarments or in a revealing costume, 
        or the condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise 
        physically restrained on the part of one so clothed.; 
           (iii) (3) masturbation or; 
           (4) lewd exhibitions of the genitals.; or 
           (iv) (5) physical contact or simulated physical contact 
        with the clothed or unclothed pubic areas or buttocks of a human 
        male or female, or the breasts of the female, whether alone or 
        between members of the same or opposite sex or between humans 
        and animals in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or 
        gratification. 
           (f) "Pornographic work" means: 
           (1) an original or reproduction of a picture, film, 
        photograph, negative, slide, videotape, videodisc, or drawing of 
        a sexual performance involving a minor; or 
           (2) any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, 
        video, picture, drawing, negative, slide, or computer-generated 
        image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, 
        mechanical, or other means that: 
           (i) uses a minor to depict actual or simulated sexual 
        conduct; 
           (ii) has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that 
        an identifiable minor is engaging in sexual conduct; or 
           (iii) is advertised, promoted, presented, described, or 
        distributed in such a manner that conveys the impression that 
        the material is or contains a visual depiction of a minor 
        engaging in sexual conduct.  
           For the purposes of this paragraph, an identifiable minor 
        is a person who was a minor at the time the depiction was 
        created or altered, whose image is used to create the visual 
        depiction. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 617.246, 
        subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [USE OF MINOR.] It is unlawful for a person to 
        promote, employ, use or permit a minor to engage in or assist 
        others to engage minors in posing or modeling alone or with 
        others in any sexual performance or pornographic work if the 
        person knows or has reason to know that the conduct intended is 
        a sexual performance or a pornographic work. 
           Any person who violates this subdivision is guilty of a 
        felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 
        five ten years or to payment of a fine of not more than 
        $10,000 $20,000 for the first offense and $20,000 $40,000 for a 
        second or subsequent offense, or both. 
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 617.246, 
        subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 3.  [OPERATION OR OWNERSHIP OF BUSINESS.] A person 
        who owns or operates a business in which a work depicting a 
        minor in a sexual performance pornographic work, as defined in 
        this section, is disseminated to an adult or a minor or is 
        reproduced, and who knows the content and character of 
        the pornographic work disseminated or reproduced, is guilty of a 
        felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more 
        than five ten years, or to payment of a fine of not more 
        than $10,000 $20,000 for the first offense and $20,000 $40,000 
        for a second or subsequent offense, or both. 
           Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 617.246, 
        subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 4.  [DISSEMINATION.] A person who, knowing or with 
        reason to know its content and character, disseminates for 
        profit to an adult or a minor a pornographic work depicting a 
        minor in sexual performance, as defined in this section, is 
        guilty of a felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not 
        more than five ten years, or to payment of a fine of not more 
        than $10,000 $20,000 for the first offense and $20,000 $40,000 
        for a second or subsequent offense, or both. 
           Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 617.246, is 
        amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
           Subd. 6.  [AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.] It shall be an affirmative 
        defense to a charge of violating this section that the sexual 
        performance or pornographic work was produced using only persons 
        who were 18 years or older. 
           Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 617.247, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [POLICY; PURPOSE.] It is the policy of the 
        legislature in enacting this section to protect minors from the 
        physical and psychological damage caused by their being used 
        in photographic representations of pornographic work depicting 
        sexual conduct which involves minors.  It is therefore the 
        intent of the legislature to penalize possession of photographic 
        representations of pornographic work depicting sexual conduct 
        which involve minors or appears to involve minors in order to 
        protect the identity of minors who are victimized by involvement 
        in the photographic representations pornographic work, and to 
        protect minors from future involvement in photographic 
        representations of pornographic work depicting sexual conduct.  
           Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 617.247, 
        subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [DEFINITIONS.] For purposes of this section, the 
        following terms have the meanings given them:  
           (a) "Photographic representation" means an original or 
        reproduction of a film, videotape, videodisc, photograph, 
        negative, or slide "Pornographic work" has the meaning given to 
        it in section 617.246.  
           (b) "Sexual conduct" has the meaning given to it in section 
        617.246.  
           Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 617.247, 
        subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 3.  [DISSEMINATION PROHIBITED.] A person who 
        disseminates a photographic representation of sexual conduct 
        which involves a minor pornographic work to an adult or a minor, 
        knowing or with reason to know its content and character and 
        that an actual minor is an actor or photographic subject in it, 
        is guilty of a gross misdemeanor felony and may be sentenced to 
        imprisonment for not more than five years and a fine of not more 
        than $10,000 for a first offense and for not more than ten years 
        and a fine of not more than $20,000 for a second or subsequent 
        offense. 
           Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 617.247, 
        subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 4.  [POSSESSION PROHIBITED.] A person who has in 
        possession possesses a photographic representation of sexual 
        conduct which involves a minor pornographic work or a computer 
        disk or computer or other electronic, magnetic, or optical 
        storage system or a storage system of any other type, containing 
        a pornographic work, knowing or with reason to know its content 
        and character and that an actual minor is an actor or 
        photographic subject in it, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor 
        felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 
        three years and a fine of not more than $5,000 for a first 
        offense and for not more than five years and a fine of not more 
        than $10,000 for a second or subsequent offense. 
           Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 617.247, is 
        amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
           Subd. 8.  [AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.] It shall be an affirmative 
        defense to a charge of violating this section that the 
        pornographic work was produced using only persons who were 18 
        years or older. 
           Sec. 11.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Sections 1 to 10 are effective August 1, 1999, and apply to 
        crimes committed on or after that date. 
           Presented to the governor May 21, 1999 
           Signed by the governor May 24, 1999, 9:46 a.m.