Child abuse prevention and protection laws. Topics: Molesation, obscenity, pornography, sex crimes, offenders, predators, reports, registers, community notification.
Sexual Abuse Laws
Presented by Pandora's Box: The Secrecy of Child Sexual Abuse
This information is extracted, edited, and paraphrased from reputable government publications.
The Web site manager is not responsible for the accuracy of information.Page Four: Table of Contents
Section I: Sexual Abuse Laws
State Laws
Federal Laws (US Code)
Section II: Sexual Exploitation Laws
Federal Laws (US Code)§ 2251 - Sexual exploitation of children
§ 2252 - Certain activities relating to material involving the sexual exploitation of minors
§ 2258 - Production of sexually explicit depictions of a minor for importation into the United StatesLaws Pertaining to Internet Crimes Against Children
Section III: Report Laws
A - State Child Abuse Report Laws
B - Federal Child Abuse Report Laws
Links to Sexual Abuse Laws:
US Codes: Sexual Exploitation and Other Abuse of Children ~ Title 18, Part I, Chapter 110 [offsite]
US Codes: Sexual Abuse ~ Title 18, Part I, Chapter 109A [offsite]
US Codes: Sexual Exploitation & Other Child Abuse ~ US Code Title 18, Part I, Chapter 110, Section 2252 [offsite]
US Codes: Transportation for Illegal Sexual Activity ~ Title 18, Part I, Chapter 117 [offsite]
State Home Pages [Onsite ~ to find state laws].
Section II: Sexual Exploitation Laws
The following section contains federal law excerpts
on "Sexual Exploitation of Children" from:
US Code Title 18 -Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Part I - Crimes
Chapter 110 - Sexual Exploitation & Other Abuse of Children
US Code, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 10 -
§ 2251 - Sexual exploitation of children
[ This is not full text. It is edited for use as brief reference only. Link here for full text. ]
(a) Any person who employs, uses, persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any minor to engage in, or who has a minor assist any other person to engage in . . . any sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct, shall be punished as provided under subsection (d), if such person knows or has reason to know that such visual depiction will be transported in interstate or foreign commerce or mailed.
(b) Any parent, legal guardian, or person having custody or control of a minor who knowingly permits such minor to engage in . . . sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct shall be punished as provided under subsection (d) of this section, if such parent, legal guardian, or person knows or has reason to know that such visual depiction will be transported in interstate or foreign commerce or mailed or if such visual depiction has actually been transported in interstate or foreign commerce or mailed.
(c)(1) Any person who, in a circumstance described in paragraph (2), knowingly makes, prints, or publishes, or causes to be made, printed, or published, any notice or advertisement seeking or offering -
(A) to receive, exchange, buy, produce, display, distribute, or reproduce, any visual depiction, if the production of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct and such visual depiction is of such conduct;
(2) The circumstance referred to in paragraph (1) is that -
(A) such person knows or has reason to know that such notice or advertisement will be transported in interstate or foreign commerce by any means including by computer or mailed; or
(B) such notice or advertisement is transported in interstate or foreign commerce by any means including by computer or mailed.
US Code, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 10 -
§ 2252 - Certain activities relating to material
involving the sexual exploitation of minors
[ This is not full text. It is edited for use as brief reference only. Link here for full text. ]
(a) Any person who -
(1) knowingly transports or ships in interstate or foreign commerce by any means including by computer or mails, any visual depiction, if -
(A) the producing of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; and
(B) such visual depiction is of such conduct;
(2) knowingly receives, or distributes, any visual depiction that has been mailed, or has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, or which contains materials which have been mailed or so shipped or transported . . . in interstate or foreign commerce, or which contains materials which have been mailed or so shipped or transported, by any means including by computer.
(A) the producing of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; and
(B) such visual depiction is of such conduct;
(3) either
(A) in the . . . territorial jurisdiction of the United States . . . knowingly sells or possesses with intent to sell any visual depiction; or
(B) knowingly sells or possesses with intent to sell any visual depiction that has been mailed, or has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, or which was produced using materials which have been mailed or so shipped or transported, by any means, including by computer, if -
(i) the producing of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; and
(ii) such visual depiction is of such conduct; or
(4) either -
(A) in the . . . territorial jurisdiction of the United States . . . knowingly possesses 3 or more books, magazines, periodicals, films, video tapes, or other matter which contain any visual depiction; or
(B) knowingly possesses 3 or more books, magazines, periodicals, films, video tapes, or other matter which contain any visual depiction that has been mailed, or has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, or which was produced using materials which have been mailed or so shipped or transported, by any means including by computer, if -
(i) the producing of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; and
(ii) such visual depiction is of such conduct; shall be punished as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
US Code, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 10 -
§ 2260 - Production of sexually explicit depictions
of a minor for importation into the United States
[ This is not full text. It is edited for use as brief reference only. Link here for full text. ]
(a) Use of Minor. - A person who, outside the United States, employs, uses, persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any minor to engage in, or who has a minor assist any other person to engage in, or who transports any minor with the intent that the minor engage in any sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct, intending that the visual depiction will be imported into the United States . . . shall be punished as provided in subsection (c).
(b) Use of Visual Depiction. - A person who, outside the United States, knowingly receives, transports, ships, distributes, sells, or possesses with intent to transport, ship, sell, or distribute any visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct (if the production of the visual depiction involved the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct), intending that the visual depiction will be imported into the United States . . . shall be punished as provided in subsection (c).
Section III-A: Report Laws - State
The oldest federal agency for children, the Children's Bureau (CB) is located within the US Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families. It is responsible for assisting States in the delivery of child welfare services - services designed to protect children and strengthen families. The agency provides grants to States, Tribes and communities to operate a range of child welfare services including child protective services (child abuse and neglect) family preservation and support, foster care, adoption and independent living.
The federal Children's Bureau site includes:Children's Bureau Programs
How to Report Suspected Abuse
Interested in becoming a Foster or Adoptive Parent?
The Scope and Problem of Child Maltreatment
Current Initiatives and Special Events
Foster Care and Adoption Statistics
Policy and Funding Announcements
Child Abuse and Neglect Information Clearinghouse and Materials Services
Up-to-date information and publications on all aspects of child maltreatment.
As the Federal agency responsible for helping States to improve the well being of children and youth, the Children's Bureau assists States in establishing guidelines to make their own laws to protect abused and neglected children. They have no authority, however, to intervene in individual child abuse and neglect cases. Many states have a toll free number to call to report suspected abuse. Link to list of Toll Free State Numbers for Reporting Child Abuse, provided by the Children's Bureau.
"Both the reporting party and the child who is allegedly being abused must reside in the same state for the following reporting numbers to be valid. When the reporting party resides in a different state than the child,or for states not listed, please call Childhelp/IOF Foresters NationalAbuse Hotline 1-800-4-A-CHILD."
Section III-B: Report Laws - Federal
US Code, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 110 -
§ 2258 - Failure to report child abuse.
[ This is not full text. It is edited for use as brief reference only. Link here for full text. ]
A person who, while engaged in a professional capacity or activity described in subsection (b) of section 226 of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 on Federal land or in a federally operated (or contracted) facility, learns of facts that give reason to suspect that a child has suffered an incident of child abuse, as defined in subsection (c) of that section, and fails to make a timely report as required by subsection (a) of that section, shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
Link here for US Codes on Child Exploitation [Offsite]
Link here to the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect:
Information (NCCAN Clearinghouse), a national resource for professionals seeking information on the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect, a Service of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect.
NCCAN Services:
Keep up to date on new products and initiatives!
Online Catalog to learn about the latest materials from the Clearinghouse.
Resources include User Manuals, research reviews, special studies, and reports.
Access information on Statistics, Child Welfare, Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, and State Statutes.
Online Conference Calendar!
National Treatment Directory and Search the Clearinghouse Documents and Prevention Programs
Databases for additional resources!
The Clearinghouse and NCPCA research and summarize State statutes in non-technical language to make them useful to both lawyers and non-legal professionals.
The State Statutes Series includes summaries of State laws:
Reporting Laws
Central Registries
Investigations
Child Witnesses
Crimes Series UpdateTo assist professionals in supporting children and strengthening families, the Clearinghouse develops and disseminates resources on a variety of prevention-related topics. For example, we can help you answer the following questions:
What is prevention?
What are the different types of prevention activities?
What are the major prevention program models?
Who provides prevention services to children and families?
What Federal agencies provide funding resources for prevention activities?