legislation: 102-s-983
Data license: Public Domain (U.S. Government data) · Data source: Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API
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| 102-s-983 | 102 | s | 983 | Pornography Victims' Compensation Act of 1991 | Law | 1991-04-25 | 1991-07-23 | Committee on Judiciary. Hearings held. | Senate | Sen. McConnell, Mitch [R-KY] | KY | R | M000355 | 8 | Pornography Victims' Compensation Act of 1991 - Creates a cause of action against a producer, distributor, exhibitor, or seller of sexually explicit material by a victim of a rape, sexual assault, or sexual crime or by the estate, guardian, or survivors of any such victim. Conditions the recovery of damages on proof by a preponderance of the evidence that: (1) the victim was a victim of a rape, sexual assault, or a sexual crime; (2) the material is sexually explicit in nature and was a proximate cause of the offense; (3) the defendant is a producer or distributor of the material or exhibited or sold it to the sexual offender and should have known that the material was sexually explicit; and (4) the sale or transfer of the material affects interstate or foreign commerce. Sets forth criteria by which the finder of fact may reasonably infer that such material was a proximate cause of the offense, including unusual similarities between the acts described or depicted and the actual offense, testimony of the offender, and testimony by experts who have examined the offender that such material influenced or incited the commission of the offense. Authorizes the award of damages for economic loss, compensation for pain and suffering, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs to prevailing plaintiffs. Directs the finder of fact, in determining whether the sexually explicit material was a proximate cause of the offense by influencing or inciting the offender to commit the offense, to consider all relevant information, including: (1) possession by the sexual offender of the material produced, distributed, exhibited, or sold by the defendant; (2) whether such material depicts or describes violent behavior or acts, or children or child-like subjects participating in sexual activity; and (3) whether any language or matter contained in such material would tend to promote violent sexual acts or the sexual abuse of children or others. Sets a statute of limitations of six years from the date the right of action first accrued or, in the case of a legal disability, not later than three years after the termination of such disability. | 2025-08-26T15:18:13Z |