Child Pornography Lawyer Kansas City, Missouri

What Is Child Pornography Under Missouri Law?

Missouri has a broad and complicated definition of child pornography. The term “child” refers to anyone under 14, while the term “minor” refers to anyone under 18. Despite the name, CSAM isn’t limited to the depiction of children. Rather, it covers all minors up through age 17.

The state’s child pornography law doesn’t necessarily prohibit nudity. Under the First Amendment, non-obscene depictions may qualify as protected speech. However, once a depiction crosses the line into obscenity, the content loses its protection.

The material in question must pass a three-part test:

1. It predominantly appeals to a prurient interest in sex, according to contemporary community standards
2. The average person would perceive that the material depicts sex in a patently offensive way under the community’s standards
3. A reasonable observer would find the material lacking in literary, artistic, scientific, or political value

Using this definition, Missouri’s CSAM statute encompasses the following types of depictions.

Obscene Material or Performance

Child pornography includes obscene material or performances with a child as one of the participants or observers. The material or performance must depict sexual conduct, contact, or performance.

Sexual contact means any touching of or with the genitals, anus, or female breast. It also includes contact with another person’s seminal fluid. To qualify as sexual contact, the purpose of the touching must be to gratify, arouse, or terrorize another person.

Sexual conduct includes sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, or sexual contact. Sexual intercourse refers to any male-female penetration. Deviate sexual intercourse means any penetration involving the genitals of one person and the hand, mouth, anus, or tongue of another person, as well as penetration with an object.

Finally, sexual performance specifically focuses on the performance of sexual conduct by a minor.

Visual Depiction Produced Using Minors

Child pornography also includes any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct produced using a minor. A visual depiction might not need to show the sex act to qualify as CSAM—it would be enough that the sex act occurred and that it was captured using any of the following:

• Photograph
• Film
• Video
• Computer-generated image

The Missouri statutes define “sexually explicit conduct” to include:

• Sexual intercourse and deviate sexual intercourse
• Lascivious exhibition of the pubic area or genitals
• Masturbation
• Sadistic or masochistic abuse
• Bestiality

This broad definition would apply to almost any case in which someone sexually abused a child and recorded it in some manner.

Digital Image Depicting Actual or Simulated Minors

Missouri’s definition of CSAM includes computer-generated images that an ordinary person would interpret as a depiction of an actual minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Consequently, it effectively bans AI pornography that’s realistic enough to appear to show a real sex act involving a minor.

Digital Image Modified to Depict an Identifiable Minor

In Missouri, CSAM also includes images that have been modified to depict an identifiable minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. This definition applies even if the source image of the sex act was performed by adults and the source image of the minor wasn’t sexually explicit.

As such, this definition would cover a video in which an adult’s head was digitally replaced with that of a real minor, making it appear that the minor had engaged in the sex act.

Child Pornography Offenses Under the Missouri Revised Statutes

The Missouri Revised Statutes contain several offenses relating to child sexual abuse, including the following.

Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

Sexual exploitation of a minor encompasses any type of pornography or obscene material involving a minor.

Someone may violate this law by knowingly or recklessly creating CSAM or obscene material with a minor. This conduct specifically includes photographing, filming, and videotaping. It also includes the catchall term “produces,” which may cover anyone creating AI- or computer-generated material.

Missouri’s statutes also punish any person or business that negligently enables a minor’s sexual exploitation.

The criminal negligence standard is a key component of this offense. This means that someone could be criminally liable for enabling child exploitation even though they allowed it inadvertently. For instance, an individual might receive this charge simply because they failed to check what was going on or ignored certain warning signs.

Promoting Child Pornography

These charges are used to go after distributors, senders, and uploaders of CSAM.

Missouri has two degrees of promoting child pornography. An offense of the first degree occurs when someone knowingly possesses with the intent to promote or actually promotes obscene material that depicts or appears to depict a child under 14. Elsewhere in the statutes, the term “promote” is defined to include any of the following acts:

• Manufacturing
• Selling
• Distributing
• Publishing
• Transferring
• Disseminating
• Exhibiting
• Delivering
• Presenting
• Advertising

These acts are prohibited whether they occur in person, via mail, or electronically.

Second-degree charges are brought when the same acts occur, but the material depicts or appears to depict a minor under 18.

Possession of Child Pornography

Charges of possession of child pornography are generally brought against those who seek out and consume abusive sexual content involving children. As the name suggests, this violation occurs when someone knowingly or recklessly possesses CSAM or obscene material depicting or appearing to depict a minor.

“Criminal recklessness” means the person consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustified risk. “Conscious disregard” is sometimes equated to “willful blindness.” In other words, a reckless person has reason to believe that they possessed illegal material but deliberately ignored that possibility.

Possession can carry harsh penalties. The accused may be charged with a separate offense for each image. The offense level jumps from a Class D felony to a Class B felony once the material possessed exceeds 20 images or one video.

Defenses Against Child Pornography Charges in Kansas City, MO

The criminal defense strategy your criminal defense lawyer employs will depend on the facts of your case. Here are a few of the possible defenses they might raise.

Lack of Knowledge

Your attorney might argue that you lacked the knowledge or intent required for certain child sexual abuse charges. For example, they might claim that you were unaware that an encrypted file left on your computer by the previous owner contained CSAM.

First Amendment

There’s a fine line between art and obscenity that’s been litigated throughout the nation’s entire history. The First Amendment expressly protects legitimate artists from prosecution, even when their art depicts children in sexual situations.

Alibi

Computer hacking and shared device use can result in things being discovered on your hard drive that you never put there. These cases can understandably be difficult to prove. However, forensic computer work might help demonstrate that you weren’t using the device when the files were transferred or stored.

Entrapment

Entrapment happens when the accused had no propensity to break the law, but a law enforcement officer pressured them into doing so. This can happen in sting operations where officers use psychological tactics to manipulate the accused into doing something illegal.