Santa Fe, NM – Legislation to close a loophole that allows child predators to send indecent images to children passed the House Safety and Civil Affairs Committee unanimously. The bill, HB 30, is sponsored by Rep. Kelly Fajardo.
Currently, it is a fourth degree felony for an individual to send a picture of their own genitalia to a child, but there are no criminal penalties if person sends a pornographic picture of someone's body. This bill would close the loophole by making it a fourth degree felony to send pornographic pictures of any naked body to a child under the age of 16.
"Child predators will often use pornographic images to solicit underage targets," Fajardo said. "We must close this loophole. It is a sexual offense and perpetrators need to be punished. It's very unfortunate that this bill has passed the House unanimously for the past two years, but died both years in the Senate."
Last year the bill died before it could be brought to a vote on the Senate Floor.