Sexual Performance by a Minor

Florida has enacted various laws aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse. One of these prohibits the use of minors in a sexual performance and penalizes those who engage in such acts. For more information about sexually motivated offenses speak with Broward County Sex Crimes Attorney James Weick.

Contact Broward County Sex Crimes Attorney James Weick online.

In order to prevent the sexual exploitation of minors, Florida law defines minors as those who are less than 18 years of age. The law states that no one can use minors in a sexual performance whether it is videotaped, filmed, photographed, or for a live audience. For the purposes of this law, sexual performance includes nudity of the genital area of males and females and the breasts of females. Any visual representation of sexual excitement, stimulation, or sadomasochism, sexual bestiality is prohibited if it includes minors.

The law is comprehensive in its definition of a sexual performance and includes a variety of sexual acts such as nudity of genital area or buttocks, anal, vaginal, or oral penetration by a sex organ, anal or vaginal penetration by any object, sexual stimulation, and sexual excitement even if the genital area is covered by opaque cloth, and other forms of sexual acts. The involvement of any person under the age of 18 in a production that includes sexual acts will make the producer liable for prosecution under this act in Florida. Our Broward County Criminal Lawyers defend these types of cases. Schedule an appointment today.

For purposes of obtaining a conviction under this act the prosecution only has to show that the perpetrator knew or had reason to know about the nature of the acts being performed as well as the age of the minor.

The lack of knowledge of the age of the minor or the false representation of the age by the minor are not considered legitimate defenses against this accusation.

A person who is accused of producing a sexual performance by a minor can be convicted of a third degree felony. This is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of $5,000.

Under this law, a perpetrator is charged with separate crimes for each instance of producing a sexual performance by a minor. This means that every instance where the same minor was used or the same production where different minors were used will count as separate crimes. This can lead to the total quantum of imprisonment becoming quite long. The fact that each individual offense is a separate crime makes a conviction for the production of a sexual performance by a minor lead to a longer term in prison.

When accused of producing a sexual performance by a minor in Florida, the defendant has very few avenues of defense. The defendant can try and prove that they were unaware of the nature of the production until it took place. This has to be proved on reasonable grounds such as a lack of knowledge about the venture. The lack of knowledge of the age of the minor is not considered a defense against this accusation. However, the defendant needs to defend themselves against each accusation of producing a sexual performance by a minor. This can be done by proving the actual age of the victim and showing that they were not a minor or by showing that the defendant was not involved in the production of the performance.

Apart from prohibiting the use of minors in sexual performances, the law also prohibits the sale or distribution of such material to minors. The law also prohibits the sale or distribution of depictions of any type of sexual performance to minors. Producers and distributors are expected to take precautions to ensure that minors do not obtain access to such material and view them. Anyone violating these prohibitions will be penalized if convicted.

References: Florida Obscenity Statutes, Registration

If you or your child have been charged with a crime, contact William R. Moore, , which has experienced south Florida criminal defense lawyers with offices in Fort Lauderdale-Dade, Broward, and Fort Lauderdale Counties.  Criminal Defense Attorneys at our law firm handle all types of criminal defense, including DUI, assault, drug possession, and others.

William R. Moore Criminal Defense Attorneys

110 SE 6th St #1713
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
USA

(954)523-5333
williammoorelaw@aol.com
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Broward County Office
110 SE 6th St #1713
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
USA

Contact Attorney William R. Moore
(954)523-5333
williammoorelaw@aol.com
wrdefense@gmail.com