The Michigan Legislature, backed by the Deputy Sheriff's Association of Michigan, has sent a strong signal that the creation, distribution or mere possession of this material will not be tolerated. The Michigan State on this material is below and you will note that just possessing this material in Michigan constitutes a felony punishable with up to 4 years in a Michigan State Prison or a fine of not more than $10,000.00, or both. Penalties for distributing or creating the material are much more harsh.
It is important to note that merely having this material in a shared folder of a peer to peer file sharing service is considered distribution of the material and can result in imprisonment in a Michigan State Prison for not more than 7 years, or a fine of not more than $50,000.00, or both.
Sec. 145c.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Appears to include a child" means that the depiction appears to
include, or conveys the impression that it includes, a person who is
less than 18 years of age, and the depiction meets either of the
following conditions:
(i) It was created using a depiction of any part of an actual person under the age of 18.
(ii) It was not created using a depiction of any part of an actual
person under the age of 18, but all of the following apply to that
depiction:
(A) The average individual, applying contemporary community
standards, would find the depiction, taken as a whole, appeals to the
prurient interest.
(B) The reasonable person would find the depiction, taken as a
whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
(C) The depiction depicts or describes a listed sexual act in a patently offensive way.
(b) "Child" means a person who is less than 18 years of age, subject
to the affirmative defense created in subsection (6) regarding persons
emancipated by operation of law.
(c) "Commercial film or photographic print processor" means a person
or his or her employee who, for compensation, develops exposed
photographic film into movie films, negatives, slides, or prints; makes
prints from negatives or slides; or duplicates movie films or
videotapes.
(d) "Computer technician" means a person who installs, maintains,
troubleshoots, upgrades, or repairs computer hardware, software,
personal computer networks, or peripheral equipment.
(e) "Contemporary community standards" means the customary limits of
candor and decency in this state at or near the time of the alleged
violation of this section.
(f) "Erotic fondling" means touching a person's clothed or unclothed
genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or, if the person is female, breasts,
or if the person is a child, the developing or undeveloped breast area,
for the purpose of real or simulated overt sexual gratification or
stimulation of 1 or more of the persons involved. Erotic fondling does
not include physical contact, even if affectionate, that is not for the
purpose of real or simulated overt sexual gratification or stimulation
of 1 or more of the persons involved.
(g) "Erotic nudity" means the lascivious exhibition of the genital,
pubic, or rectal area of any person. As used in this subdivision,
"lascivious" means wanton, lewd, and lustful and tending to produce
voluptuous or lewd emotions.
(h) "Listed sexual act" means sexual intercourse, erotic fondling,
sadomasochistic abuse, masturbation, passive sexual involvement, sexual
excitement, or erotic nudity.
(i) "Masturbation" means the real or simulated touching, rubbing, or
otherwise stimulating of a person's own clothed or unclothed genitals,
pubic area, buttocks, or, if the person is female, breasts, or if the
person is a child, the developing or undeveloped breast area, either by
manual manipulation or self-induced or with an artificial instrument,
for the purpose of real or simulated overt sexual gratification or
arousal of the person.
(j) "Passive sexual involvement" means an act, real or simulated,
that exposes another person to or draws another person's attention to
an act of sexual intercourse, erotic fondling, sadomasochistic abuse,
masturbation, sexual excitement, or erotic nudity because of viewing
any of these acts or because of the proximity of the act to that
person, for the purpose of real or simulated overt sexual gratification
or stimulation of 1 or more of the persons involved.
(k) "Prurient interest" means a shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sex, or excretion.
(l) "Child sexually abusive activity" means a child engaging in a listed sexual act.
(m) "Child sexually abusive material" means any depiction, whether
made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, including a
developed or undeveloped photograph, picture, film, slide, video,
electronic visual image, computer diskette, computer or
computer-generated image, or picture, or sound recording which is of a
child or appears to include a child engaging in a listed sexual act; a
book, magazine, computer, computer storage device, or other visual or
print or printable medium containing such a photograph, picture, film,
slide, video, electronic visual image, computer, or computer-generated
image, or picture, or sound recording; or any reproduction, copy, or
print of such a photograph, picture, film, slide, video, electronic
visual image, book, magazine, computer, or computer-generated image, or
picture, other visual or print or printable medium, or sound recording.
(n) "Sadomasochistic abuse" means either of the following:
(i) Flagellation or torture, real or simulated, for the purpose of
real or simulated sexual stimulation or gratification, by or upon a
person.
(ii) The condition, real or simulated, of being fettered, bound, or
otherwise physically restrained for sexual stimulation or gratification
of a person.
(o) "Sexual excitement" means the condition, real or simulated, of
human male or female genitals in a state of real or simulated overt
sexual stimulation or arousal.
(p) "Sexual intercourse" means intercourse, real or simulated,
whether genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal,
whether between persons of the same or opposite sex or between a human
and an animal, or with an artificial genital.
(2) A person who persuades, induces, entices, coerces, causes, or
knowingly allows a child to engage in a child sexually abusive activity
for the purpose of producing any child sexually abusive material, or a
person who arranges for, produces, makes, or finances, or a person who
attempts or prepares or conspires to arrange for, produce, make, or
finance any child sexually abusive activity or child sexually abusive
material is guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment for not more
than 20 years, or a fine of not more than $100,000.00, or both, if that
person knows, has reason to know, or should reasonably be expected to
know that the child is a child or that the child sexually abusive
material includes a child or that the depiction constituting the child
sexually abusive material appears to include a child, or that person
has not taken reasonable precautions to determine the age of the child.
(3) A person who distributes or promotes, or finances the
distribution or promotion of, or receives for the purpose of
distributing or promoting, or conspires, attempts, or prepares to
distribute, receive, finance, or promote any child sexually abusive
material or child sexually abusive activity is guilty of a felony,
punishable by imprisonment for not more than 7 years, or a fine of not
more than $50,000.00, or both, if that person knows, has reason to
know, or should reasonably be expected to know that the child is a
child or that the child sexually abusive material includes a child or
that the depiction constituting the child sexually abusive material
appears to include a child, or that person has not taken reasonable
precautions to determine the age of the child. This subsection does not
apply to the persons described in section 7 of 1984 PA 343, MCL 752.367.
(4) A person who knowingly possesses any child sexually abusive
material is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more
than 4 years or a fine of not more than $10,000.00, or both, if that
person knows, has reason to know, or should reasonably be expected to
know the child is a child or that the child sexually abusive material
includes a child or that the depiction constituting the child sexually
abusive material appears to include a child, or that person has not
taken reasonable precautions to determine the age of the child. This
subsection does not apply to any of the following:
(a) A person described in section 7 of 1984 PA 343, MCL 752.367, a
commercial film or photographic print processor acting pursuant to
subsection (8), or a computer technician acting pursuant to subsection
(9).
(b) A police officer acting within the scope of his or her duties as a police officer.
(c) An employee or contract agent of the department of social
services acting within the scope of his or her duties as an employee or
contract agent.
(d) A judicial officer or judicial employee acting within the scope
of his or her duties as a judicial officer or judicial employee.
(e) A party or witness in a criminal or civil proceeding acting within the scope of that criminal or civil proceeding.
(f) A physician, psychologist, limited license psychologist,
professional counselor, or registered nurse licensed under the public
health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.1101 to 333.25211, acting within the
scope of practice for which he or she is licensed.
(g) A social worker registered in this state under article 15 of the
public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.16101 to 333.18838, acting
within the scope of practice for which he or she is registered.
(5) Expert testimony as to the age of the child used in a child
sexually abusive material or a child sexually abusive activity is
admissible as evidence in court and may be a legitimate basis for
determining age, if age is not otherwise proven.
(6) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section
that the alleged child is a person who is emancipated by operation of
law under section 4(2) of 1968 PA 293, MCL 722.4, as proven by a
preponderance of the evidence.
(7) If a defendant in a prosecution under this section proposes to
offer in his or her defense evidence to establish that a depiction that
appears to include a child was not, in fact, created using a depiction
of any part of an actual person under the age of 18, the defendant
shall at the time of the arraignment on the information or within 15
days after arraignment but not less than 10 days before the trial of
the case, or at such other time as the court directs, file and serve
upon the prosecuting attorney of record a notice in writing of his or
her intention to offer that defense. The notice shall contain, as
particularly as is known to the defendant or the defendant's attorney,
the names of witnesses to be called in behalf of the defendant to
establish that defense. The defendant's notice shall include specific
information as to the facts that establish that the depiction was not,
in fact, created using a depiction of any part of an actual person
under the age of 18. Failure to file a timely notice in conformance
with this subsection precludes a defendant from offering this defense.
(8) If a commercial film or photographic print processor reports to
a law enforcement agency having jurisdiction his or her knowledge or
observation, within the scope of his or her professional capacity or
employment, of a film, photograph, movie film, videotape, negative, or
slide depicting a person that the processor has reason to know or
reason to believe is a child engaged in a listed sexual act; furnishes
a copy of the film, photograph, movie film, videotape, negative, or
slide to a law enforcement agency having jurisdiction; or keeps the
film, photograph, movie film, videotape, negative, or slide according
to the law enforcement agency's instructions, both of the following
shall apply:
(a) The identity of the processor shall be confidential, subject to
disclosure only with his or her consent or by judicial process.
(b) If the processor acted in good faith, he or she shall be immune
from civil liability that might otherwise be incurred by his or her
actions. This immunity extends only to acts described in this
subsection.
(9) If a computer technician reports to a law enforcement agency
having jurisdiction his or her knowledge or observation, within the
scope of his or her professional capacity or employment, of an
electronic visual image, computer-generated image or picture or sound
recording depicting a person that the computer technician has reason to
know or reason to believe is a child engaged in a listed sexual act;
furnishes a copy of that image, picture, or sound recording to the law
enforcement agency; or keeps the image, picture, or sound recording
according to the law enforcement agency's instructions, both of the
following shall apply:
(a) The identity of the computer technician shall be confidential,
subject to disclosure only with his or her consent or by judicial
process.
(b) If the computer technician acted in good faith, he or she shall
be immune from civil liability that might otherwise be incurred by his
or her actions. This immunity extends only to acts described in this
subsection.
(10) This section applies uniformly throughout the state and all political subdivisions and municipalities in the state.
(11) A local municipality or political subdivision shall not enact
ordinances, nor enforce existing ordinances, rules, or regulations
governing child sexually abusive activity or child sexually abusive
material as defined by this section.