Pen. Code, § 311.3 · Chapter 7.5. Obscene Matter
Pen. Code, § 311.3
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) A person is guilty of sexual exploitation of a child if that person knowingly develops, duplicates, prints, or exchanges any representation of information, data, or image, including, but not limited to, any film, filmstrip, photograph, negative, slide, photocopy, videotape, video laser disc, computer hardware, computer software, computer floppy disc, data storage media, CD-ROM, or computer-generated equipment or any other computer-generated image that contains or incorporates in any manner, any film, filmstrip, or any digitally altered or artificial-intelligence-generated matter that depicts a person under 18 years of age engaged in an act of sexual conduct.
(b) It is not necessary to prove that the matter is obscene in order to establish a violation of subdivision (a).
(c) As used in this section, “sexual conduct” means any of the following:
(1) Sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex or between humans and animals.
(2) Penetration of the vagina or rectum by any object.
(3) Masturbation for the purpose of sexual stimulation of the viewer.
(4) Sadomasochistic abuse for the purpose of sexual stimulation of the viewer.
(5) Exhibition of the genitals or the pubic or rectal area of any person for the purpose of sexual stimulation of the viewer.
(6) Defecation or urination for the purpose of sexual stimulation of the viewer.
(d) Subdivision (a) does not apply to the activities of law enforcement and prosecution agencies in the investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses or to legitimate medical, scientific, or educational activities, or to lawful conduct between spouses.
(e) Every person who violates subdivision (a) shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) or by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. If the person has been previously convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) or any section of this chapter, the person shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison.
(f) The provisions of this section do not apply to an employee of a commercial film developer who is acting within the scope of employment and in accordance with the instructions of their employer, provided that the employee has no financial interest in the commercial developer by which they are employed.
(g) Subdivision (a) does not apply to matter that is unsolicited and is received without knowledge or consent through a facility, system, or network over which the person or entity has no control.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 929, Sec. 2. (SB 1381) Effective January 1, 2025.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=311.3.
- Text hash
- sha256 bb55550e277536eb320812d14704e4216172fa41653d7a7f494e136955f46e33
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Cited by 16 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 311.3. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 186.2Printed as Section 311.3 or 311.4
- Pen. Code, § 186.8Printed as Section 311.3 or 311.4
- Pen. Code, § 236.1Printed as Section 266, 266h, 266i, 266j, 267, 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.4, 311.5, 311.6, or 518
- Pen. Code, § 290Printed as Section 311.3, 311.4, 311.10, 311.11, or 647.6 | Section 311.3, 311.4, or 311.10
- Pen. Code, § 290.46Printed as Section 311.3
- Pen. Code, § 294Printed as Section 273a, 273d, 288.5, 311.2, 311.3, or 647.6
- Pen. Code, § 311.12Printed as Section 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.10, or 311.11
- Pen. Code, § 502.01Printed as Section 288, 288.2, 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.4, 311.5, 311.10, 311.11, 422, 470, 470a, 472, 475, 476, 480, 483.5, 484g | Section 288, 288.2, 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.4, 311.5, 311.10, 311.11, 470, 470a, 472, 475, 476, 480, 483.5, 484g | Section 288, 288.2, 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.4, 311.5, 311.10,
- Pen. Code, § 518Printed as Section 311.3
- Pen. Code, § 638.52Printed as Section 311.3
- Pen. Code, § 868.5Printed as Section 211, 215, 220, 236.1, 240, 242, 243.4, 245, 261, 266, 266a, 266b, 266c, 266d, 266e, 266f, 266g, 266h, 266i, 266j, 266k, 267, 269, 273a, 273d, 273.5, 273.6, 278, 278.5, 285, 286, 287, 288, 288.
- Pen. Code, § 1203.066Printed as Section 311.3
- Pen. Code, § 1203.4Printed as Section 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, or 311.11
- Pen. Code, § 1524Printed as Section 311.3
- Pen. Code, § 11165.1Printed as Section 311.3
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.