Alabama has created new penalties and raised existing penalties against those who would target children, adults and corrections officers across the state.

Recent legislation — created with bipartisan support and recently signed into law by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey — creates the following four new sex-related criminal offenses:

• Distribution of a private image, also known as “revenge porn” or “nonconsensual pornography,” will now be a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class C felony for subsequent offenses. This covers distributing intimate, private images of someone when the depicted person did not consent to the transmission and the perpetrator intended to harass or intimidate the depicted person;

• “Sextortion” is the use of threatening communications, often online, to induce the victim to engage in unwanted sexual activity. This will be a Class B felony;

• Assault with bodily fluids has increasingly occurred in recent years with the use of seminal fluid to attack a victim; attacking law enforcement personnel with bodily fluids is also a regrettably frequent occurrence in jails and prisons. This will now be a Class A misdemeanor (or a Class C felony if the offender knows he or she has a communicable disease); and

• Directing children to engage in sexual acts will be a Class C felony if the offender directs children to engage in sexual contact with one another; it becomes a Class A felony if the offender directs the children to engage in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual intercourse.

Existing law update

The legislation also amends existing law in various respects. For example, it broadens the existing offense known as “electronic solicitation of a child” to cover certain grooming behaviors by would-be child molesters. The act also strengthens and clarifies various provisions of the Alabama Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Act. For example, it allows judges to exempt juveniles from sex-offender registration if they were found to have engaged in sexting-type behaviors.

Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to one year in jail, class C felonies by one to 10 years’ imprisonment, and class B felonies two to 20 years.

How it came about

The legislation was a joint proposal of the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of Prosecution Services, the state agency that provides resources to district attorneys’ offices throughout Alabama.

The proposal received bipartisan support in the Legislature.

Sen. Vivian Figures sponsored the legislation and spearheaded its passage. Rep. Randy Wood assisted by handling the bill on the floor of the House.

Attorney General Steve Marshall thanked the sponsors, the governor and noted the bill’s significance.

“I appreciate the leadership of Senator Figures, Representative Wood, and all members of the Legislature who played a role in bringing this important legislation to fruition,” he said. “This legislation gives Alabama prosecutors one more tool to protect our children and other vulnerable persons from the devastating effects of sexual misconduct.”

Marshall thanked the Office of Prosecution Services and the state’s district attorneys, heralding them “for recognizing the need for this law and for their steadfast dedication to protecting the people of Alabama.”