1997 Minnesota Statutes

     617.246 Use of minors in sexual performance prohibited. 

    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 sexual conduct 
 as defined by clause (e). 

    (e) "Sexual conduct" means any of the following if the 
 depiction involves a minor: 

    (i) 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) 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) Masturbation or lewd exhibitions of the genitals.  

    (iv) 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) "Work" means an original or reproduction of a picture, 
 film, photograph, negative, slide, videotape, videodisc, or 
 drawing.  

    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 in posing or modeling alone or with others in 
 any sexual performance if the person knows or has reason to know 
 that the conduct intended is a sexual performance. 

    Any person who violates this subdivision is guilty of a 
 felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 
 five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000 for 
 the first offense and $20,000 for a second or subsequent 
 offense, or both. 

    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, as defined in this section, is 
 disseminated, and who knows the content and character of the 
 work disseminated, is guilty of a felony and may be sentenced to 
 imprisonment for not more than five years, or to payment of a 
 fine of not more than $10,000 for the first offense and $20,000 
 for a second or subsequent offense, or both. 

    Subd. 4.    Dissemination.  A person who, knowing or 
 with reason to know its content and character, disseminates for 
 profit a 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 years, or to 
 payment of a fine of not more than $10,000 for the first offense 
 and $20,000 for a second or subsequent offense, or both. 

    Subd. 5.    Consent; mistake.  Neither consent to sexual 
 performance by a minor or the minor's parent, guardian, or 
 custodian nor mistake as to the minor's age is a defense to a 
 charge of violation of this section.  

    HIST: 1977 c 371 s 1; 1982 c 604 s 2; 1983 c 204 s 11; 1984 c 
 628 art 3 s 7-9; 1986 c 444