Electronically Furnishing Obscene Material To Minors in Georgia
This law prohibits sending children any material considered to be obscene. It covers a number of behaviors, from sharing pornography with an underage acquaintance to “sexting” with a minor.
According to the statue, a person commits the crime of electronically furnishing obscene materials to minors if they knowingly provide a person under 18 years of age with:
Any picture, photograph, drawing, or similar visual representation or image of a person or portion of a human body which depicts sexually explicit nudity, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse and which is harmful to minors; or
Any written or aural matter that contains material of the nature described above or explicit verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual conduct, sexual excitement or sadomasochistic abuse.
The statute defines material as “harmful to minors” when it “predominantly appeals to the prurient, shameful, or morbid interest of minors” and “is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors.”
Three additional conditions must be met for the action to qualify as a crime:
The person sending the obscene content knew or had good reason to know the character of the material furnished and knew or should have known the recipient was a minor;
The offensive portions of the material are not merely an incidental part of an otherwise non-offending whole; and
The material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value and is harmful to minors in that it appeals to and incites prurient interest.
In short to be guilty of this crime, you must be aware that you are sending harmful, obscene materials – written or visual – to a minor. Writing sexually explicit messages and texting nude photos of yourself to someone you know to be a child is illegal. Giving a medical textbook to a teenager that contains nude illustrations of the human body is not. Sexting with someone who tells you they are in middle school is a crime because you should reasonably know they are underage. Being “catfished” by a high school kid who pretends to be an adult and sending them explicit messages should not result in prosecution.
Every case has its own circumstances and must be considered on its own merits. It is up to the prosecution to prove the necessary aspects of the crime. The Berry Law Group has experience handling the cases of those wrongly accused of sexually based crimes. While the offense of electronically furnishing obscene material to minors is not a felony, it is charged as a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature. A conviction can destroy your reputation, labeling you as a child sex offender. Thus, these types of charges must be taken very seriously. Contact the Berry Law Group for a free consultation and let us begin working on your case. An accusation or a charge does not have to result in a conviction.
Get An Experienced Sex Criminal Defense Attorney
If you are facing charges for electronically furnishing obscene material to minors or any other sex crime in Georgia, don’t panic. You have the right to defend yourself. You can beat your charges with the help of an experienced defense attorney. Call us today to find you more about what The Berry Law Group can do for you!