Title 18 U.S.C. §2251 - Sexual Exploitation of Children
Under federal law, sexual exploitation of children is a distinct crime that includes producing child pornography.
Essentially, anyone who tries to induce, entice, or persuade a minor to participate in a sexual act for creating videos, pictures, or other images commits sexual exploitation.
This federal law falls under 18 U.S.C. §2251. According to federal child pornography statutes, a minor is defined as anyone under 18. It is also important to remember that you can face charges for child sexual exploitation even if the conduct took place outside the United States.
However, to prosecute someone accused of producing child pornography abroad, the government prosecutor must demonstrate that the individual intended to send or make the child pornography available to people in the United States.
If you're accused of violating federal laws related to child sexual exploitation, it's crucial to consult a federal criminal defense lawyer right away. Avoid making any statements to federal agents. Below, we review the legal definitions.
What Does Section 2251 Say?
Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 2251, criminalizes child sexual exploitation. It outlines various behaviors considered as exploitation and imposes severe penalties.
To clarify how this federal law applies, we will define the prohibited conduct, give realistic examples, and discuss the associated punishments for each type.
Subdivision (a) of Section 2251 punishes "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, or who transports any minor in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or Possession of the United States, with the intent that such minor engage in, any sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct or for the purpose of transmitting a live visual depiction of such conduct…"
An example of violating Section 2251, subdivision (a), is transporting a minor across state lines in a vehicle to film child pornography.
Subsection (e) states that the punishment can range from 15 years to life in prison, depending on previous convictions and other aggravating factors not covered in this article.
Enticing or Encouraging a Minor
Section 2251, subdivision (c) punishes "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 outside of the United States, its territories or possessions, for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct."
The main difference in this subdivision is that the conduct must take place outside the United States or its territories with the knowledge, or reasonable expectation, that the child pornography produced will be distributed within the United States or its territories.
A violation of this subsection could involve a foreign national producing child pornography and then distributing it online to individuals in the United States. Such violations can again result in potential life sentences.
Potential Penalties if Found Guilty
Under federal law, penalties for sexual exploitation are severe. Convictions carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and can result in up to 30 years in prison.
Typically, the penalties for a child pornography or sexual exploitation conviction vary based on several factors and are calculated according to federal sentencing guidelines.
In federal sexual exploitation cases, the sentence usually depends on factors such as the quantity of images or videos you owned or distributed, the precise ages of the minors, and the type of sexual conduct shown.
Additional sentence enhancements may apply if you have a history of similar behaviors, even without prior charges or convictions for a sexual offense.
Potential Legal Defenses When Facing Charges
In most instances, defending individuals accused of federal child pornography or sexual exploitation offenses is complex.
Our lawyers might effectively argue that the individual shown in the film or images is not a minor. Our attorneys will also carefully examine the evidence to see if the images demonstrate "sexually explicit conduct" as defined by federal law.
Often, prosecutors possess nude images as evidence, but these images do not necessarily depict the specific sexual activities that are illegal under federal law.
Another effective legal defense strategy is to consult computer forensics experts, who can help assess whether government investigators properly conducted searches of your computer or other electronic devices to find evidence.
In some cases, experts can demonstrate that the images or videos on your computer were not knowingly possessed but were inadvertently obtained or quickly deleted. Perhaps the child pornography images were mistakenly downloaded.
Our computer forensic specialists may focus on specific internet search terms to show you did not intentionally seek out child pornography images. Contact Cron, Israels & Stark for a case evaluation.