South Carolina H 3620: Kaiyah Horton-Seawright, sympathy

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3620 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 12, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3620

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
16-15-390 SO AS TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF OBSCENE VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF 
CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE, DEFINE TERMS, AND ESTABLISH PENALTIES; BY AMENDING SECTION 23-3-430, 
RELATING TO THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY, SO AS TO ADD THE OFFENSE OF OBSCENE 
VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE TO THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY; AND 
BY AMENDING SECTION 23-3-462, RELATING TO THE TERMINATION OF SEX OFFENDER 
REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS, SO AS TO CLARIFY WHEN AN OFFENDER MAY FILE A REQUEST 
FOR TERMINATION OF THE REQUIREMENT.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Article 3, Chapter 15, Title 16 of the S.C. Code is 
amended by adding:

 Section 
16-15-390. (A) As used in this 
section:

 (1) 
"Obscene" has the same meaning as Section 16-15-305.

 (2) 
"Visual depiction or representation" means and includes undeveloped film and 
videotape, and data stored on a computer disk or by electronic means that is 
capable of conversion into a visual image, and also includes any photograph, 
film, video, picture, digital image or picture, computer image or picture, or 
computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, 
mechanical, or other means.

 (B) 
Any person who knowingly produces, distributes, receives, or possesses with 
intent to distribute, a visual depiction or representation of any kind, 
including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting that depicts a minor 
engaging in sexually explicit conduct, sexually explicit activity, or sexually 
explicit nudity, and is obscene, or attempts or conspires to do so, is guilty 
of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not less than two years 
nor more than ten years. No part of the minimum sentence may be suspended nor 
is the individual convicted eligible for parole until he has served the minimum 
sentence.

 (C) 
Any person who knowingly possesses a visual depiction or representation of any 
kind, including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting, that depicts a 
minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, sexually explicit activity, or 
sexually explicit nudity, and is obscene, or attempts or conspires to do so is 
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned no more than ten 
years.

 (D) 
The offense is a misdemeanor to be heard by the family court if the person 
charged under this section is a minor, and the minor has no prior adjudication 
under this section or for any offense for which a person may be included in the 
sex offender registry. The family court may order behavioral health counseling 
from an appropriate agency or provider, as a condition of adjudicating a minor.

 (E) 
It is not a required element of any offense under this section that the minor 
depicted actually exists.

 (F) 
This section does not apply to an employee of a law enforcement agency, 
including the State Law Enforcement Division, a prosecuting agency, including 
the South Carolina Attorney General's Office, or the South Carolina Department 
of Corrections, who, while acting within the employee's official capacity in 
the course of an investigation or criminal proceeding, is in possession of 
material that contains a visual representation of a minor engaging in sexual 
activity or appearing in a state of sexually explicit nudity when a reasonable 
person would infer the purpose is sexual stimulation. An employee's official 
capacity in the course of such investigation or criminal proceeding includes 
making materials available for inspection to the defendant's counsel in 
response to discovery requests.

SECTION 2. Section 23-3-430(C)(1) and (2) of the S.C. Code is 
amended to read:

 (1) For purposes of this article, a 
person who has been convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendere to any of 
the following offenses shall be referred to as a Tier I offender:

 (a) 
criminal sexual conduct in the third degree (Section 16-3-654);

 (b) 
kidnapping (Section 16-3-910) of a person eighteen years of age or older except 
when the court makes a finding on the record that the offense did not include a 
criminal sexual offense or an attempted criminal sexual offense;

 (c) 
incest (Section 16-15-20);

 (d) 
buggery (Section 16-15-120);

 (e) 
peeping, voyeurism, or aggravated voyeurism (Section 16-17-470);

 (f) 
a person, regardless of age, who has been convicted or pled guilty or nolo 
contendere in this State, or who has been convicted or pled guilty or nolo 
contendere in a comparable court in the United States, or who has been 
convicted or pled guilty or nolo contendere in the United States federal courts 
of indecent