Sec. 53a-196. Obscenity as to minors: Class D felony. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 53a-196. Obscenity as to minors: Class D felony. (a) A person is guilty of obscenity as to minors when he knowingly promotes to a minor, for monetary consideration, any material or performance which is obscene as to minors.

      (b) For purposes of this section, "knowingly" means having general knowledge of or reason to know or a belief or ground for belief which warrants further inspection or inquiry as to (1) the character and content of any material or performance which is reasonably susceptible of examination by such person and (2) the age of the minor.

      (c) In any prosecution for obscenity as to minors, it shall be an affirmative defense that the defendant made (1) a reasonable mistake as to age, and (2) a reasonable bona fide attempt to ascertain the true age of such minor, by examining a draft card, driver's license, birth certificate or other official or apparently official document, exhibited by such minor, purporting to establish that such minor was seventeen years of age or older.

      (d) Obscenity as to minors is a class D felony.

      (1969, P.A. 828, S. 198; P.A. 85-496, S. 1; P.A. 92-260, S. 78.)

      History: P.A. 85-496 increased penalty from class A misdemeanor to class D felony; P.A. 92-260 made a technical change in Subsec. (c).

      Under revision of 1999, provision that proscribes "importation of two or more copies" was not limited to copies of the same image, but also included reproductions of two or more different images. Section not limited to commercial importation of child pornography but also includes transmittal of images by personal computer. Expert evidence is not necessary to establish that child depicted is real and not electronically generated. Evidence that defendant sent images via electronic mail service routed through Virginia was sufficient to establish the proscribed activity of "importing" images. 277 C. 155.

      Subsec. (a):

      Cited. 36 CS 352.