Maine statute
17-A M.R.S. § 283 — Dissemination of sexually explicit material
Current through First Special Session of the 132nd Maine Legislature (current through October 1, 2025)
Part of Chapter 12: Sexual Exploitation of Minors, Maine Revised Statutes.
Criminal charges under this statute
Full text of 17-A M.R.S. § 283
Statutory text current through the First Special Session of the 132nd Maine Legislature (current through October 1, 2025). This publication reproduces the statutory text of the Maine Revised Statutes from the Revisor of Statutes' official published files; it is not the official statutes of the State of Maine and has not been certified by the Secretary of State.
1. A person is guilty of dissemination of sexually explicit material if:
A. The person intentionally or knowingly disseminates or possesses with intent to disseminate any book, magazine, newspaper, print, negative, slide, motion picture, videotape, computer data file or other mechanically, electronically or chemically reproduced visual image or material that depicts any person who has not in fact attained 16 years of age who the person knows or has reason to know is a person under 16 years of age engaging in sexually explicit conduct, except that it is not a violation of this paragraph if the person depicted is 14 or 15 years of age and the person is less than 5 years older than the person depicted. Violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime;
B. The person violates paragraph A and, at the time of the offense, has one or more prior convictions under this section or for engaging in substantially similar conduct to that contained in this section in another jurisdiction. Violation of this paragraph is a Class B crime;
C. The person intentionally or knowingly disseminates or possesses with intent to disseminate any book, magazine, newspaper, print, negative, slide, motion picture, videotape, computer data file or other mechanically, electronically or chemically reproduced visual image or material that depicts any minor who is less than 12 years of age who the person knows or has reason to know is a minor less than 12 years of age engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Violation of this paragraph is a Class B crime; or
D. The person violates paragraph C and, at the time of the offense, has one or more prior convictions under this section or for engaging in substantially similar conduct to that contained in this section in another jurisdiction. Violation of this paragraph is a Class A crime.
Section 9-A governs the use of prior convictions when determining a sentence.
2. For the purposes of this section, possession of 10 or more copies of any of the materials as described in subsection 1 gives rise to a permissible inference under the Maine Rules of Evidence, Rule 303 that the person possesses those items with intent to disseminate.
3. For purposes of this section, any element of age of the person depicted means the age of the person at the time the sexually explicit conduct occurred, not the age of the person depicted at the time of dissemination or possession of the sexually explicit visual image or material.
Official sources
Legal terms used in this section
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.