Chapter 649-B: Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 1998."

In this chapter, "child" means any person under the age of 16 years.

I. No person shall knowingly:

(a) Compile, enter into, or transmit by means of computer;

(b) Make, print, publish, or reproduce by other computerized means;

(c) Cause or allow to be entered into or transmitted by means of computer; or

(d) Buy, sell, receive, exchange, or disseminate by means of computer, any notice, statement, or advertisement, or any minor's name, telephone number, place of residence, physical characteristics, or other descriptive or identifying information,

for purposes of facilitating, encouraging, offering, or soliciting sexual conduct of or with any child, or the visual depiction of such conduct.

II. Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a class B felony.

I. No person shall knowingly utilize a computer on-line service, internet service, or local bulletin board service to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child or another person believed by the person to be a child, to commit any of the following:

(a) Any offense under RSA 632-A, relative to sexual assault and related offenses.

(b) Indecent exposure and lewdness under RSA 645:1.

(c) Endangering a child as defined in RSA 639:3, III.

II. (a) A person who violates the provisions of paragraph I shall be guilty of a class A felony if such person believed the child was under the age of 13, otherwise such person shall be guilty of a class B felony.

(b) A person convicted under paragraph I based on an indictment alleging that the person has been previously convicted of an offense under this section or a reasonably equivalent offense in an out-of-state jurisdiction shall be charged as a class A felony. If the indictment also alleges that the person believed that the child was under the age of 13, the person may be sentenced to a maximum sentence not to exceed 20 years and a minimum sentence not to exceed 10 years.

(c) If the person has been previously convicted 2 or more times for an offense under this section or a reasonably equivalent statute in another state, the person may be sentenced to a maximum term not to exceed 30 years.

III. It shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this section that the victim was not actually a child so long as the person reasonably believed that the victim was a child.

I. It shall be a class A misdemeanor for any owner or operator of a computer on-line service, Internet service, or local bulletin board service knowingly to permit a subscriber to utilize the service to commit a violation of this chapter.

II. Any out-of-state computer service company doing business in New Hampshire which receives a subpoena from the state of New Hampshire resulting from an investigation of a violation of this chapter shall respond to such subpoena within 14 days. Failure to respond may result in the suspension or revocation of such company's right to do business in New Hampshire.

A person is subject to prosecution for engaging in any conduct proscribed by this chapter within this state, or for engaging in such conduct outside this state if by such conduct the person commits a violation of this chapter involving a child or an individual the person believes to be a child, residing within this state.