Pornography involving minors

Vegas Defense Attorney Explains Child Pornography Offenses

The state of Nevada takes a strict stance against any type of involvement with child pornography. If you are accused of a crime connected with child pornography in any way, even simply possessing child pornography, you can expect to face very serious criminal charges. These charges could lead to serious consequences including jail time and, in most cases, being forced to register as a sex offender. Registration could affect your life in profound ways for decades, imposing substantial limits on where you can live and work.

You need to take accusations of child pornography very seriously so you can explore defenses available to you and create a strategic plan for how to reduce possible penalties that you could face. LV Criminal Defense is here to help. We can work closely with you to identify the nature of the evidence against you, to understand your options for raising defenses, and to determine if your best course of action would involve going to court to try and secure an acquittal or working to negotiate a plea agreement that could result in a less serious penalty than you might otherwise be subject to.

Our legal team has extensive experience with child pornography crimes and we know the ins-and-outs of the laws that apply in child pornography cases. Our Las Vegas criminal defense firm will help you to make smart, informed choices as you navigate the criminal justice system with the goal of getting the minimum penalties possible or avoiding conviction altogether on child pornography charges. Give us a call today to find out about the ways in which our firm can help you.

Nevada Laws on Pornography Involving Minors

Nevada laws on pornography involving minors are found in Nevada Revised Statutes section 200.700 through 200.760. Collectively, these laws make up a subsection of Chapter 200 of Title 15. Title 15 is the part of Nevada’s code dealing with crimes and punishments, and Chapter 200 is the part of Chapter 15 that details different offenses considered to be crimes against persons.

Pornography involving minors is the title of the subsection addressing child pornography offenses, and it includes statutes that provide a definition of specific words used in Nevada laws, as well as statutes that explain the types of conduct that are considered to be unlawful in connection with minors and pornography. It also contains statutes related to how a court determines whether a person was a minor, as well as a statute outlining the penalties for different kinds of child pornography offenses.

According to Nevada Revised Statute section 200.700, the definitions of many of the terms used in the statutes criminalizing child pornography are broad definitions. For example, the term performance refers to any play, any film, any photograph, any computer-generated image, any dance, any electronic representation, or any other visual presentation.

The term sexual conduct refers to sexual intercourse, fellatio, cunnilingus, bestiality, anal intercourse, masturbation, penetration of any part of the body, exhibition of the genitals, or inserting any object into the genital or anal opening of another person. Finally, sexual portrayal refers to depicting a person in a manner that has no serious, literary, artistic, scientific, or political value but that instead appeals to the prurient interest in sex.

Nevada Revised Statute section 200.710, found within the subsection related to pornography involving minors, specifically makes it unlawful to use a minor in producing any type of pornography or as the subject of any sexual portrayal in a performance. This crime is committed if any individual knowingly uses a minor to simulate or engage in sexual conduct or if anyone uses a minor to assist others to simulate or engage in sexual conduct in order to produce a performance. The crime is also committed if anyone encourages a minor to participate in such performance; or if anyone permits a minor to participate in such a performance. Using a minor to simulate, engage in, or assist others to simulate or engage in sexual conduct to produce a performance is a Category A felony.

The same statute also makes it a Category A felony to knowingly use, encourage, entice, or permit a child to be the subject of a sexual portrayal in a performance, regardless of whether or not the minor is aware that the sexual portrayal is a part of the performance or not.

N.R.S. section 200.720 makes it unlawful to promote a performance in which a minor is the subject of a sexual portrayal, and makes it unlawful to promote a performance where the minor engages in, simulates, or assists others to engage in or simulate sexual conduct. Promoting such a performance is also classified as a Category A felony.

Other prohibited offenses include preparing materials that depict pornography involving minors; using the Internet to control any type of visual presentation which depicts someone who is underage in unlawful pornography, and possession of any visual presentation that shows a child under the age of 16 engaged in sexual conduct that is being depicted in the presentation.

These laws prohibit a broad range of behaviors so those who encourage children in any way to participate in sexual performances or child pornography crimes can be held accountable for wrongdoing.