State lawmakers are advancing a bill that aims to impose harsher criminal penalties on people who expose minors to obscene material, such as sexual images.
The Senate Judiciary Committee gave a favorable report Wednesday to House Bill 83, which would increase penalties for people found guilty of disseminating obscene materials to minors. It goes next to the Senate Rules and Operations Committee.
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The legislation passed the House last year with bipartisan support. Senators in the judiciary committee on Wednesday approved an amended version of the bill, removing a provision that would have created a new criminal charge for people who are repeatedly convicted of indecent exposure. State Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican who filed the bill, told WRAL News that he hopes to move that proposal to a separate bill.
State law defines obscenity as material that “depicts or describes [sexual conduct] in a patently offensive way” that would be recognized by “the average person applying contemporary community standards” and “lacks literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
Under the bill, people charged with exposing obscenities to minors would face a Class H felony instead of a Class G felony; people charged with exposing obscenities to minors who are younger than 13 years old would face a Class F felony, instead of a Class G felony. The bill would also elevate the penalty for “exhibiting harmful performances to minors” — making it a Class H felony instead of a misdemeanor.
The committee’s discussion of the bill was brief. Senate Minority leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, asked legislative researchers whether the legislation would apply to someone who posts explicit content on social media for a broad audience — but whose content is viewed by a minor. Sen. Ted Alexander, R-Gaston, said the bill is intended to target people who share content directly with a minor.
Torbett said he filed the bill in response to a case where a South Carolina man allegedly sent obscene material to a North Carolina teen. Local authorities sought to pursue charges, Torbett said, but South Carolina denied the man’s extradition because his alleged offense is classified in the Tar Heel State as a misdemeanor.