1-1           By:  Brown                                       S.B. No. 674

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 20, 1997; February 24, 1997,

 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;

 1-4     March 5, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 5,

 1-5     Nays 0; March 5, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to the prosecution of the offense of possession or

 1-9     promotion of child pornography.

1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-11           SECTION 1.  Subsections (a), (b), and (f), Section 43.26,

1-12     Penal Code, are amended to read as follows:

1-13           (a)  A person commits an offense if:

1-14                 (1)  the person knowingly or intentionally possesses

1-15     visual material [containing a film image] that visually depicts a

1-16     child younger than 18 years of age at the time the [film] image of

1-17     the child was made who is engaging in sexual conduct; and

1-18                 (2)  the person knows that the material depicts the

1-19     child as described by Subdivision (1).

1-20           (b)  In this section:

1-21                 (1)  ["Film image" includes a photograph, slide,

1-22     negative, film, or videotape, or a reproduction of any of these.]

1-23                 [(2)  "Sexual conduct" has the meaning assigned by

1-24     Section 43.25.]

1-25                 [(3)]  "Promote" has the meaning assigned by Section

1-26     43.25.

1-27                 (2)  "Sexual conduct" has the meaning assigned by

1-28     Section  43.25.

1-29                 (3)  "Visual material" means:

1-30                       (A)  any film, photograph, videotape, negative,

1-31     or slide or any photographic reproduction that contains or

1-32     incorporates in any manner any film, photograph, videotape,

1-33     negative, or slide; or

1-34                       (B)  any disk, diskette, or other physical medium

1-35     that allows an image to be displayed on a computer or other video

1-36     screen and any image transmitted to a computer or other video

1-37     screen by telephone line, cable, satellite transmission, or other

1-38     method.

1-39           (f)  A person who possesses visual material that contains six

1-40     or more identical visual depictions of [film images depicting] a

1-41     child as described by Subsection (a)(1) is presumed to possess the

1-42     material [film images] with the intent to promote the material.

1-43           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies

1-44     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this

1-45     Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before

1-46     the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs

1-47     before the effective date.

1-48           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this

1-49     Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,

1-50     and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

1-51           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-52           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-53     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-54     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-55     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-56     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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