720 ILCS 5/11-20.1 – Child Pornography

720 ILCS 5/11-20.1 – Child Pornography

This law makes it illegal to create, share, possess, or involve children or certain vulnerable people in sexually explicit images or videos.

This statute explains what counts as child pornography, who can be charged, and what penalties apply. It also lists defenses, exceptions, and how evidence must be handled.

(a) What actions are illegal. A person commits this crime if they knowingly take, make, or create images or videos of a child under 18, or a person with a severe intellectual disability, in sexual situations.

1. Creating images. It is illegal to film, photograph, record, or use a computer to show a child or vulnerable person in sexual acts or sexual displays. This includes either doing:
   1. Sex acts with a person or animal.
   2. Sex acts involving private body parts.
   3. Masturbation.
   4. Sexual touching or fondling.
   5. Using the bathroom in a sexual way.
   6. Being or pretending to be tied up or harmed in a sexual way.
   7. Sexual display of private body parts.
2. Sharing or planning to share. It is illegal to copy, show, sell, send, or plan to send these images or videos.
3. Producing performances. It is illegal to make or produce plays, shows, or recordings that include these sexual images of a child or vulnerable person.
4. Getting a child involved. It is illegal to pressure, trick, or force a child or vulnerable person to take part in making these images or videos.
5. Caregivers allowing it. Parents, guardians, or caregivers break the law if they knowingly allow or arrange for a child or vulnerable person to be used this way.
6. Possession. It is illegal to knowingly have these images or videos, even if they are not shared.
7. Asking others to provide a child. It is illegal to ask or convince someone else to supply a child or vulnerable person for these images or videos.

(a-5) Separate offenses. Each different illegal image or video counts as its own crime, but identical copies of the same image count as one.

(b)(1) Defense based on age belief. A person may defend themselves if they reasonably believed the person was 18 or older and did not have an intellectual disability. The defendant must have taken real steps to check first.

(b)(1.5) Internet and phone companies. Service providers are not responsible just for carrying or storing messages or data from others.

(b)(3) Exceptions. This law does not apply to police, courts, lawyers, or licensed professionals doing their official jobs or treatment work.

(b)(4) Multiple copies. Having many copies of the same image can be used as proof that the person planned to share them.

(b)(5) Accidental possession. A person is not guilty if they did not knowingly or willingly possess the material.

(b)(6) Violent crime label. Some violations are considered violent crimes if they involve penetrative sexual acts or abuse.

(c) Sentence: If the crime does not involve a film or moving image, making or showing child pornography is usually a Class 1 felony. If it does involve a film or video, it becomes a Class X felony, which is more serious. The fines range from $1,000 to $100,000 depending on the case. The type of felony also changes based on which act was done – for example, just holding the material is punished less than creating or sharing it.

There are different levels:

1. For the creation of images, getting a child involved, allowing your child to become involed, or asking others to provide a child, it is a Class 1 felony if not filmed, or a Class X felony if filmed.
2. For producing the material, it is also a Class 1 felony without a film, or Class X with a film.
3. For sharing or spreading the material, it is a Class 1 felony without a film, or Class X with a film.
4. For only possessing the material, it is a Class 3 felony without a film, or Class 2 felony with a film.
5. All have fines between $1,000 and $100,000 depending on the act.

(c-5) Sentence if child was under 13: When the child shown in the material is under 13, the crime becomes much more severe. Any act involving that child – like filming, showing, or spreading the material – becomes a Class X felony with fines between $2,000 and $100,000. Simply possessing the material in that case is a Class 2 felony.

If the person charged had been convicted before for similar crimes involving minors or child pornography, the punishment becomes even harsher. In that case, if the child is under 13, the sentence is a Class X felony with at least 9 years in prison and fines up to $100,000. If the crime only involved posession, under the same conditions, it is a Class 1 felony with similar fines. Whether the child was actually under 13 must be proven in court.

(d) Repeat offenders. A person convicted again within 10 years must get a mental health evaluation before sentencing.

(e) Seizure of property. Illegal images and the equipment used to make or share them can be taken away by the government.

(e-5) Sealing evidence. Sexually explicit evidence must be sealed after the case and can only be viewed later with court approval.

(f) Definitions.

1. “Disseminate” means to share or give something, like selling, trading, or distributing it to others. It also includes putting a file or image on the internet or any computer network where others can download or access it.
2. “Produce” means to create, promote, publish, advertise, or show something.
3. “Reproduce” means to make another copy or duplicate of something.
4. “Depict by computer” means to create or cause something to be created using a computer program or data that, once processed, shows a picture or image on a screen.
5. “Depiction by computer” means the actual computer program or data that, when processed, shows an image or picture on a screen.
6. “Computer,” “computer program,” and “data” have the same meanings as in Section 17.05.
7. “Child pornography” means any video, film, photo, or computer image that shows or seems to show a person under 18 years old or a person with a severe intellectual disability. It also includes any image that is advertised, described, or shared in a way that makes people think it shows a minor or a person with such a disability. It can include pictures of real minors that are changed or edited to look like they are involved in sexual acts.

(g) Purpose of the law. The law was re-approved to make sure it stays valid and enforceable and to protect children from sexual abuse.

View the full statute here.

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