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Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1003

Offense of sexual exploitation of a minor

Applied in 13 court decisions — leading case In Re: Estate of Martha M. Tanner (2009)

Most recently applied in United States v. Jones (August 2022)

Acts 1990, ch. 1092, § 7; 2005, ch. 496, § 2; 2013, ch. 350, § 2.

How often courts cite this section

1995200020102020202230
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly possess material that includes a minor engaged in: Sexual activity; or

(2) Simulated sexual activity that is patently offensive.

(3) A person possessing material that violates subsection (a) may be charged in a separate count for each individual image, picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture film, videocassette tape, or other pictorial representation. Where the number of materials possessed is greater than fifty (50), the person may be charged in a single count to enhance the class of offense under subsection (d).

(4) In a prosecution under this section, the trier of fact may consider the title, text, visual representation, internet history, physical development of the person depicted, expert medical testimony, expert computer forensic testimony, and any other relevant evidence, in determining whether a person knowingly possessed the material, or in determining whether the material or image otherwise represents or depicts that a participant is a minor.

(5) A violation of this section is a Class D felony; however, if the number of individual images, materials, or combination of images and materials, that are possessed is more than fifty (50), then the offense shall be a Class C felony. If the number of individual images, materials, or combination of images and materials, exceeds one hundred (100), the offense shall be a Class B felony.

(6) In a prosecution under this section, the state is not required to prove the actual identity or age of the minor.

(7) It shall not be a defense to a violation of this section that a minor victim of the offense consented to the conduct that constituted the offense.

Current official text: Tennessee Code (LexisNexis). Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Tennessee statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.