South Carolina § 16-15-430 - Sexual extortion; aggravated sexual extortion.

§ 16-15-430. Sexual extortion; aggravated sexual extortion.

(A) As used in this section:

(1) "Adult" means a person eighteen years or older.

(2) "Minor" means any person under eighteen years of age at the time of the alleged offense.

(3) "Great bodily injury" means bodily injury which causes a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ.

(4) "Private image" means an image depicting sexually explicit nudity or sexual activity, as defined in Section 16-15-375, or sexual conduct, as defined in Section 16-15-305.

(5) "Image" means a photograph, film, videotape, recording, live transmission, digital or computer-generated visual depiction, or any other reproduction made by electronic, mechanical, or other means.

(6) "Disclose" means exhibit, transfer, publicize, distribute, or reproduce.

(7) "Vulnerable adult" has the same meaning as in Section 43-35-10.

(B) A person commits the offense of felony sexual extortion if the actor intentionally and maliciously threatens to release, exhibit, or distribute a private image of another in order to compel or attempt to compel the victim to do any act or refrain from doing any act against his will, with the intent to obtain additional private images or anything else of value. Except as provided in subsections (C) and (D), a person convicted of felony sexual extortion must be imprisoned:

(1) not more than five years for a first offense;

(2) not more than ten years for a second offense; or

(3) not more than twenty years for a third or subsequent offense.

(C)(1) A person commits the offense of aggravated felony sexual extortion if the actor intentionally and maliciously threatens to release, exhibit, or distribute a private image of another in order to compel or attempt to compel the victim to do any act or refrain from doing any act against his will, with the intent to obtain additional private images or anything else of value and either:

(a) the victim is a minor or a vulnerable adult and the person convicted of sexual extortion is an adult; or

(b) the victim suffers great bodily injury or death and the finder of fact finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the sexual extortion of the victim was the proximate cause of the great bodily injury or death.

(2) A person convicted of aggravated felony sexual extortion must be imprisoned not more than twenty years.

(D) If the person convicted is a minor, then the person is guilty of misdemeanor sexual extortion and must be sentenced by the family court. The court may order as a condition of sentencing behavioral health counseling from an appropriate agency or provider.

HISTORY: 2023 Act No. 54 (H.3583), SECTION 2, eff May 18, 2023.

Editor's Note

2023 Act No. 54, SECTIONS 1 and 3, provide as follows:

"SECTION 1. This act may be cited as 'Gavin's Law'."

"SECTION 3. Local school districts shall collaborate with the State Department of Education, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Attorney General's office, as appropriate, to implement a policy to educate and notify students of the provisions of this act which includes adequate notice to students, parents or guardians, the public, and school personnel of the change in law. The State Department of Education must file a report as to the status of the adoption and implementation of the education policies under this act to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, annually by July first of each year."