A local lawmaker’s bill to crack down on child pornography is on its way to the Indiana House of Representatives. Sen. Randy Head’s measure to strengthen penalties for child pornography crimes passed the Senate unanimously on Monday.
It increases the offense of child exploitation from a Level 5 to a Level 4 felony under certain circumstances. The enhancement would be triggered if the victim is under 18 and engages in bestiality, is mentally disabled or deficient, participates by use or threat of force, physically or verbally resists participating, receives a bodily injury while participating or is under the age of 12.
Senate Bill 14 would also increase the offense of possession of child pornography to a Level 5 felony if the offense depicts or describes sexual conduct by a child who the defendant knows is less than 18 or who appears to be less than 18 under the same circumstances. It’s now a Level 6 felony.
Head’s goal is to deal with offenders he says are, quote, “the worst of the worst.” Under current law he says having a photo of a naked child carries the same penalty as possessing a video of a child being violently raped. Head’s bill would provide tools to increase penalties for cases where children are subjected to what he calls “especially alarming and heinous experiences.”
The measure would also allow offenders to receive consecutive sentences on multiple counts. A loophole in current law allows offenders to serve less time.
