{"id":377287,"date":"2016-03-31T21:37:19","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T02:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/wisconsin-law\/wisconsin-child-pornography-laws.html"},"modified":"2016-06-20T19:49:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T00:49:00","slug":"wisconsin-child-pornography-laws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/wisconsin-law\/wisconsin-child-pornography-laws.html","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin Child Pornography Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Wisconsin Child Pornography Laws<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last reviewed\n

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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

Child pornography is illegal in Wisconsin, as it is throughout the U.S. Generally, the more severe or damaging the conduct committed by a defendant, the more serious the criminal penalties.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin’s child pornography<\/a> laws are detailed below.<\/p>\n\n

Code Sections<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 948: Crimes Against Children <\/a>and Section 944.21 Obscene Material or Performance<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>

What is Prohibited?<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

It’s illegal in Wisconsin to engage in many different activities related to child pornography, from possession to creating the materials to making a child watch porn. The child pornography crimes are:<\/p>\n

Penalties<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

In Wisconsin, felonies, misdemeanors, and forfeitures (like infractions in other states) are divided by class (Classes A-I for felonies) with varying maximum sentences for each class. The penalties applicable to Wisconsin child pornography offenses are:<\/p>\n

Defenses<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

Many common defenses<\/a> may apply to a child porn case, such as innocence, insanity, intoxication (involuntarily only), or lack of intent (such as you were looking at porn on your computer and didn’t want the child pornography site pop-up and closed it as soon as it came up). Also, Wisconsin law provides for some specific crime defenses.<\/p>\n

Mistake as to the age of a child for crimes in Wisconsin is not a defense<\/a>. Similar to many statutory rape<\/a> laws where consent is not relevant. However, the Sexual Exploitation of a Child statute allows a defense that the person reasonably believed the child was 18 or older. This may come about, for example, by a pornography creator asking for identification and the child presented a valid-looking fake ID so he or she could be hired to act in the porn.<\/p>\n

Another statute specific defense includes that libraries and educational institutions and their employees or boards in official capacity can’t be prosecuted for having obscene material.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n

Note:<\/i><\/b> State laws change regularly – be sure to confirm the that the laws you’re researching are current<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Research the Law<\/h2>\n