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1 | AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | Section 11-21 as follows:
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6 | (720 ILCS 5/11-21) (from Ch. 38, par. 11-21)
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7 | Sec. 11-21. Harmful material.
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8 | (a) Elements of
of the Offense.
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9 | A person who, with knowledge that a person is a child, that | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | is a person
under 18 years of age, or who fails to exercise | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | reasonable care in
ascertaining the true age of a child, | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | knowingly distributes to or sends or
causes to be sent to, or | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | exhibits to, or offers to distribute or exhibit
any harmful | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | material to a child, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
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15 | (b) Definitions.
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16 | (1) Material is harmful if, to the average person, applying | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | contemporary
standards, its predominant appeal, taken as a | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | whole, is to prurient
interest, that is a shameful or morbid | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | interest in nudity, sex, or
excretion, which goes substantially | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | beyond customary limits of candor in
description or | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | representation of such matters, and is material the
redeeming | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | social importance of which is substantially less than its
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23 | prurient appeal.
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24 | (2) Material, as used in this Section means any writing, | |||||||||||||||||||
25 | picture, record
or other representation or embodiment.
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26 | (3) Distribute means to transfer possession of, whether | |||||||||||||||||||
27 | with or without
consideration.
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28 | (4) Knowingly, as used in this section means having | |||||||||||||||||||
29 | knowledge of the
contents of the subject matter, or recklessly | |||||||||||||||||||
30 | failing to exercise
reasonable inspection which would have | |||||||||||||||||||
31 | disclosed the contents thereof.
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32 | (c) Interpretation of Evidence.
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1 | The predominant appeal to prurient interest of the material | ||||||
2 | shall be
judged with reference to average children of the same | ||||||
3 | general age of the
child to whom such material was offered, | ||||||
4 | distributed, sent or exhibited,
unless it appears from the | ||||||
5 | nature of the matter or the circumstances of its
dissemination, | ||||||
6 | distribution or exhibition that it is designed for specially
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7 | susceptible groups, in which case the predominant appeal of the | ||||||
8 | material
shall be judged with reference to its intended or | ||||||
9 | probable recipient group.
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10 | In prosecutions under this section, where circumstances of | ||||||
11 | production,
presentation, sale, dissemination, distribution, | ||||||
12 | or publicity indicate the
material is being commercially | ||||||
13 | exploited for the sake of its prurient
appeal, such evidence is | ||||||
14 | probative with respect to the nature of the
material and can | ||||||
15 | justify the conclusion that the redeeming social
importance of | ||||||
16 | the material is in fact substantially less than its prurient
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17 | appeal.
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18 | (d) Sentence.
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19 | Distribution of harmful material in violation of this | ||||||
20 | Section is a Class
A misdemeanor. A second or subsequent | ||||||
21 | offense is a Class 4 felony.
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22 | (e) Affirmative Defenses.
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23 | (1) Nothing in this section shall prohibit any public | ||||||
24 | library or any
library operated by an accredited institution of | ||||||
25 | higher education from
circulating harmful material to any | ||||||
26 | person under 18 years of age, provided
such circulation is in | ||||||
27 | aid of a legitimate scientific or educational
purpose, and it | ||||||
28 | shall be an affirmative defense in any prosecution for a
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29 | violation of this section that the act charged was committed in | ||||||
30 | aid of
legitimate scientific or educational purposes.
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31 | (2) Nothing in this section shall prohibit any parent from | ||||||
32 | distributing
to his child any harmful material.
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33 | (3) Proof that the defendant demanded, was shown and acted | ||||||
34 | in reliance
upon any of the following documents as proof of the | ||||||
35 | age of a child, shall
be a defense to any criminal prosecution | ||||||
36 | under this section: A document
issued by the federal government |
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1 | or any state, county or municipal
government or subdivision or | ||||||
2 | agency thereof, including, but not limited to,
a motor vehicle | ||||||
3 | operator's license, a registration certificate issued under
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4 | the Federal Selective Service Act or an identification card | ||||||
5 | issued to a
member of the armed forces.
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6 | (4) In the event an advertisement of harmful material as | ||||||
7 | defined in this
section culminates in the sale or distribution | ||||||
8 | of such harmful material to
a child, under circumstances where | ||||||
9 | there was no personal confrontation of
the child by the | ||||||
10 | defendant, his employees or agents, as where the order or
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11 | request for such harmful material was transmitted by mail, | ||||||
12 | telephone, or
similar means of communication, and delivery of | ||||||
13 | such harmful material to
the child was by mail, freight, or | ||||||
14 | similar means of transport, it shall be
a defense in any | ||||||
15 | prosecution for a violation of this section that the
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16 | advertisement contained the following statement, or a | ||||||
17 | statement
substantially similar thereto, and that the | ||||||
18 | defendant required the
purchaser to certify that he was not | ||||||
19 | under 18 years of age and that the
purchaser falsely stated | ||||||
20 | that he was not under 18 years of age: "NOTICE: It
is unlawful | ||||||
21 | for any person under 18 years of age to purchase the matter
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22 | herein advertised. Any person under 18 years of age who falsely | ||||||
23 | states that
he is not under 18 years of age for the purpose of | ||||||
24 | obtaining the material
advertised herein, is guilty of a Class | ||||||
25 | B misdemeanor under the laws of the
State of Illinois."
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26 | (f) Child Falsifying Age.
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27 | Any person under 18 years of age who falsely states, either | ||||||
28 | orally or in
writing, that he is not under the age of 18 years, | ||||||
29 | or who presents or
offers to any person any evidence of age and | ||||||
30 | identity which is false or not
actually his own for the purpose | ||||||
31 | of ordering, obtaining, viewing, or
otherwise procuring or | ||||||
32 | attempting to procure or view any harmful material,
is guilty | ||||||
33 | of a Class B misdemeanor.
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34 | (Source: P.A. 77-2638.)
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