I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4963 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for assistance for victims 

of child pornography, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2018 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. MESSER, Mr. UPTON, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. 

PERRY, and Mr. CLAY) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for assistance for victims of child pornography, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Amy, Vicky, and Andy 

5 Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The demand for child pornography harms 

9 children because it drives production, which involves 


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1 severe and often irreparable child sexual abuse and 

2 exploitation. 

3 (2) The harms caused by child pornography 

4 begin, but do not end, with child sex abuse because 

5 child pornography is a permanent record of that 

6 abuse and trafficking in those images compounds 

7 the harm to the child. 

8 (3) In Paroline v. United States (2014), the 

9 Supreme Court recognized that ‘‘every viewing of 

10 child pornography is a repetition of the victim’s 

11 abuse’’. 

12 (4) The American Professional Society on the 

13 Abuse of Children has stated that for victims of 

14 child pornography, ‘‘the sexual abuse of the child, 

15 the memorialization of that abuse which becomes 

16 child pornography, and its subsequent distribution 

17 and viewing become psychologically intertwined and 

18 each compound the harm suffered by the child-vic19 tim’’. 

20 (5) Victims suffer continuing and grievous 

21 harm as a result of knowing that a large, indetermi22 nate number of individuals have viewed and will in 

23 the future view images of their childhood sexual 

24 abuse. Harms of this sort are a major reason that 

25 child pornography is outlawed. 


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1 (6) The unlawful collective conduct of every in2 dividual who reproduces, distributes, or possesses 

3 the images of a victim’s childhood sexual abuse plays 

4 a part in sustaining and aggravating the harms to 

5 that individual victim. Multiple actors independently 

6 commit intentional crimes that combine to produce 

7 an indivisible injury to a victim. 

8 (7) It is the intent of Congress that victims of 

9 child pornography be fully compensated for all the 

10 harms resulting from every perpetrator who contrib11 utes to their anguish. Such an aggregate causation 

12 standard reflects the nature of child pornography 

13 and the unique ways that it actually harms victims. 

14 SEC. 3. DETERMINING RESTITUTION. 

15 (a) DETERMINING RESTITUTION.—Section 2259(b) 

16 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘The order’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 

20 order’’; and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘as determined by the 

22 court pursuant to paragraph (2)’’ after ‘‘of the 

23 victim’s losses’’; 

24 (2) by striking paragraph (3); 


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1 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para2 graph (3); and 

3 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(2) RESTITUTION FOR TRAFFICKING IN CHILD

6 PORNOGRAPHY.—If the defendant was convicted for 

7 trafficking in child pornography, the order of res8 titution under this section shall direct the defendant 

9 to pay the victim (through the appropriate court 

10 mechanism) an amount of restitution determined by 

11 the court as follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) DETERMINING THE FULL AMOUNT OF

13 A VICTIM’S LOSSES.—The court shall determine 

14 the full amount of the victim’s losses that were 

15 incurred or are reasonably projected to be in16 curred by the victim as a result of the traf17 ficking in child pornography. 

18 ‘‘(B) DETERMINING A RESTITUTION

19 AMOUNT.—After completing the determination 

20 required under subparagraph (A), the court 

21 shall enter an order of restitution against the 

22 defendant in favor of the victim in an amount 

23 which is between $3,000 and 1 percent of the 

24 full amount of the victim’s losses. 


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1 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION OF PAYMENT.—A vic2 tim’s total aggregate recovery pursuant to this 

3 section shall not exceed the full amount of the 

4 victim’s demonstrated losses. After the victim 

5 has received restitution in the full amount of 

6 the victim’s losses as measured by the greatest 

7 amount of such losses found in any case involv8 ing that victim that has resulted in a final res9 titution order under this section, the liability of 

10 each defendant who is or has been ordered to 

11 pay restitution for such losses to that victim 

12 shall be terminated. The court may direct the 

13 victim to provide information concerning the 

14 amount of restitution the victim has been paid 

15 in other cases for the same losses.’’. 

16 (b) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—Section 2259(c) of 

17 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

18 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘DEFINITION’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘DEFINITIONS’’; 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘For purposes’’ and inserting 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(4) VICTIM.—For purposes’’; 

23 (3) by striking ‘‘under this chapter, including, 

24 in the case’’ and inserting ‘‘under this chapter. In 

25 the case’’; 


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1 (4) by inserting after ‘‘or any other person ap2 pointed as suitable by the court,’’ the following: 

3 ‘‘may assume the crime victim’s rights under this 

4 section,’’; and 

5 (5) by inserting before paragraph (4), as so 

6 designated, the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) CHILD PORNOGRAPHY PRODUCTION.—For 

8 purposes of this section and section 2259A, the term 

9 ‘child pornography production’ means conduct pro10 scribed by subsection (a) through (c) of section 

11 2251, section 2252A(g) (in cases in which the series 

12 of felony violations involves at least one of the viola13 tions listed in this section), section 2260(a), or any 

14 offense under chapter 109A or chapter 117 that in15 volved the production of child pornography, as de16 fined in section 2256. 

17 ‘‘(2) FULL AMOUNT OF THE VICTIM’S

18 LOSSES.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘full 

19 amount of the victim’s losses’ includes any costs in20 curred, or reasonably projected to be incurred in the 

21 future, by the victim, and in the case of a trafficking 

22 in child pornography conviction, as a proximate re23 sult of all trafficking in child pornography offenses 

24 involving the same victim, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) medical services relating to physical, 

2 psychiatric, or psychological care; 

3 ‘‘(B) physical and occupational therapy or 

4 rehabilitation; 

5 ‘‘(C) necessary transportation, temporary 

6 housing, and child care expenses; 

7 ‘‘(D) lost income; 

8 ‘‘(E) attorneys’ fees, as well as other costs 

9 incurred; and 

10 ‘‘(F) any other relevant losses incurred by 

11 the victim. 

12 ‘‘(3) TRAFFICKING IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.— 

13 For purposes of this section and section 2259A, the 

14 term ‘trafficking in child pornography’ means con15 duct proscribed by section 2251(d), 2251A, 2252, 

16 2252A, section 2252A(g) (in cases in which the se17 ries of felony violations exclusively involves violations 

18 listed in this section), or section 2260(b).’’. 

19 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 1593(b)(3) of 

20 title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sec21 tion 2259(b)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2259(c)(2)’’. 

22 SEC. 4. DEFINED MONETARY ASSISTANCE. 

23 Section 2259 of title 18, United States Code, is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(d) DEFINED MONETARY ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DEFINED MONETARY ASSISTANCE MADE

2 AVAILABLE AT VICTIM’S ELECTION.— 

3 ‘‘(A) ELECTION TO RECEIVE DEFINED

4 MONETARY ASSISTANCE.—Subject to para5 graphs (2) and (3), if the defendant was con6 victed of child pornography production, the vic7 tim of child pornography production may choose 

8 to receive defined monetary assistance from the 

9 Child Pornography Victims’ Reserve established 

10 under section 1402(d)(6) of the Victims of 

11 Crime Act of 1984. 

12 ‘‘(B) FINDING.—To be eligible for defined 

13 monetary assistance under this subsection, a 

14 court shall determine whether the claimant is a 

15 victim of the defendant who was convicted of 

16 child pornography production. 

17 ‘‘(C) ORDER.—If a court determines that 

18 a claimant is a victim of child pornography pro19 duction under subparagraph (B) and the claim20 ant chooses to receive defined monetary assist21 ance, the court shall order payment in accord22 ance with subparagraph (D) to the victim from 

23 the Child Pornography Victims’ Reserve estab24 lished under section 1402(d)(6) of the Victims 

25 of Crime Act of 1984. 


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1 ‘‘(D) AMOUNT OF DEFINED MONETARY AS2 SISTANCE.—The amount of defined monetary 

3 assistance payable under this subparagraph 

4 shall be equal to— 

5 ‘‘(i) for the first calendar year after 

6 the date of enactment of this subsection, 

7 $35,000; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) for each calendar year after the 

9 year described in clause (i), $35,000 multi10 plied by the ratio (not less than one) of— 

11 ‘‘(I) the Consumer Price Index 

12 for all Urban Consumer (CPI–U, as 

13 published by the Bureau of Labor 

14 Statistics of the Department of 

15 Labor) for the calendar year pre16 ceding such calendar year; to 

17 ‘‘(II) the CPI–U for the calendar 

18 year 2 years before the calendar year 

19 described in clause (i). 

20 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON DEFINED MONETARY AS21 SISTANCE.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A victim may only ob23 tain defined monetary assistance under this 

24 subsection once. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EFFECT ON RECOVERY OF OTHER

2 RESTITUTION.—A victim who obtains defined 

3 monetary assistance under this subsection shall 

4 not be barred or limited from receiving restitu5 tion against any defendant for any offenses not 

6 covered by this section. 

7 ‘‘(C) DEDUCTION.—If a victim who re8 ceived defined monetary assistance under this 

9 subsection subsequently seeks restitution under 

10 this section, the court shall deduct the amount 

11 the victim received in defined monetary assist12 ance when determining the full amount of the 

13 victim’s losses. 

14 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS ON ELIGIBILITY.—A victim 

15 who has collected payment of restitution pursuant to 

16 this section in an amount greater than the amount 

17 provided for under paragraph (1)(D) shall be ineli18 gible to receive defined monetary assistance under 

19 this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(4) GUARDIAN AD LITEM.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In all cases alleging 

22 child pornography production, the court shall 

23 appoint a guardian ad litem, who shall be an 

24 attorney, for each identified victim of the child 


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1 pornography production, pursuant to section 

2 3509(h). 

3 ‘‘(B) FEES.—A guardian ad litem ap4 pointed pursuant to this subsection may not 

5 charge, receive, or collect, without court ap6 proval for good cause shown, any fees or pay7 ment of expenses that in the aggregate exceed 

8 10 percent of any defined monetary assistance 

9 payment made under this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(C) PENALTY.—Any guardian ad litem 

11 who violates subparagraph (B) shall be fined 

12 under this title, imprisoned for not more than 

13 one year, or both.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. ASSESSMENTS IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASES. 

15 (a) ASSESSMENTS IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

16 CASES.—Chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, is 

17 amended by inserting after section 2259 the following: 

18 ‘‘§ 2259A. Assessments in child pornography cases 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other criminal 

20 penalty, restitution, or special assessment authorized by 

21 law, the court shall assess— 

22 ‘‘(1) not more than $17,000 on any person con23 victed of an offense under section 2252(a)(4) or 

24 2252A(a)(5); 


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1 ‘‘(2) not more than $35,000 on any person con2 victed of any other offense for trafficking in child 

3 pornography; and 

4 ‘‘(3) not more than $50,000 on any person con5 victed of a child pornography production offense. 

6 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL ADJUSTMENT.—The dollar amounts in 

7 subsection (a) shall be adjusted annually in conformity 

8 with the Consumer Price Index. 

9 ‘‘(c) FACTORS CONSIDERED.—In determining the 

10 amount of the assessment under subsection (a), the court 

11 shall consider the factors set forth in sections 3553(a) and 

12 3572. 

13 ‘‘(d) IMPOSITION AND IMPLEMENTATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of sub15 chapter C of chapter 227 (other than section 3571) 

16 and subchapter B of chapter 229 (relating to fines) 

17 apply to assessments under this section, except that 

18 paragraph (2) applies in lieu of any contrary provi19 sions of law relating to fines or disbursement of 

20 money received from a defendant. 

21 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON OTHER PENALTIES.—Imposi22 tion of an assessment under this section does not re23 lieve a defendant of, or entitle a defendant to reduce 

24 the amount of any other penalty by the amount of 

25 the assessment. Any money received from a defendVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Feb 10, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4963.IH H4963

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1 ant shall be disbursed so that each of the following 

2 obligations is paid in full in the following sequence: 

3 ‘‘(A) A special assessment under section 

4 3013. 

5 ‘‘(B) Restitution to victims of any child 

6 pornography production offense that the de7 fendant committed. 

8 ‘‘(C) An assessment under this section and 

9 restitution to victims of any trafficking in child 

10 pornography offenses. 

11 ‘‘(D) Other orders under any other section 

12 of this title. 

13 ‘‘(E) All other fines, penalties, costs, and 

14 other payments required under the sentence.’’. 

15 (b) CHILD PORNOGRAPHY VICTIMS RESERVE.—Sec16 tion 1402(d) the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 

17 20101(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(6)(A) The Director may set aside up to 

19 $10,000,000 of the amounts remaining in the Fund in any 

20 fiscal year after distributing the amounts under para21 graphs (2), (3), and (4), in a Child Pornography Victims 

22 Reserve, which may be used by the Attorney General for 

23 payments under section 2259(d) of title 18, United States 

24 Code. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Amounts in the reserve may be carried over 

2 from fiscal year to fiscal year, but the total amount of 

3 the reserve shall not exceed $10,000,000. Notwithstanding 

4 subsection (c) and any limitation on Fund obligations in 

5 any future Act, unless the same should expressly refer to 

6 this section, any such amounts carried over shall not be 

7 subject to any limitation on obligations from amounts de8 posited to or available in the Fund.’’. 

9 (c) CHILD PORNOGRAPHY VICTIMS RESERVE.— 

10 Chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

11 by inserting after section 2259A, as added by subsection 

12 (a), the following: 

13 ‘‘§ 2259B. Child pornography victims reserve 

14 ‘‘(a) DEPOSITS INTO THE RESERVE.—Notwith15 standing any other provision of law, there shall be depos16 ited into the Child Pornography Victims Reserve estab17 lished under section 1402(d)(6) of the Victims of Crime 

18 Act of 1984 all assessments collected under section 2259A 

19 and any gifts, bequests, or donations to the Child Pornog20 raphy Victims Reserve from private entities or individuals. 

21 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY FOR DEFINED MONETARY AS22 SISTANCE.—Amounts in the Child Pornography Victims 

23 Reserve shall be available for payment of defined monetary 

24 assistance pursuant to section 2259(d). If at any time the 

25 Child Pornography Victims Reserve has insufficient funds 


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1 to make all of the payments ordered under section 

2 2259(d), the Child Pornography Victims Reserve shall 

3 make such payments as it can satisfy in full from available 

4 funds. In determining the order in which such payments 

5 shall be made, the Child Pornography Victims Reserve 

6 shall make payments based on the date they were ordered, 

7 with the earliest-ordered payments made first. 

8 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Attorney General shall 

9 administer the Child Pornography Victims Reserve and 

10 shall issue guidelines and regulations to implement this 

11 section. 

12 ‘‘(d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that individuals who violate this chapter before this 

14 legislation is enacted, but who are sentenced after this leg15 islation is enacted, shall be subject to the statutory scheme 

16 that was in effect at the time the offenses were com17 mitted.’’. 

18 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

19 for chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, is amend20 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 2259 the 

21 following: 

‘‘2259A. Assessments in child pornography cases. 

‘‘2259B. Child pornography victims reserve.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. CHILD PORNOGRAPHY VICTIM’S RIGHT TO EVI2 DENCE. 

3 Section 3509(m) of title 18, United States Code, is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(3)(A) In any criminal proceeding, a victim of 

6 trafficking in child pornography or child pornog7 raphy production, as those terms are defined in sec8 tion 2259(c), shall have access to any property or 

9 material that constitutes child pornography, as de10 fined by section 2256, depicting the victim, for in11 spection, viewing, and examination at a Government 

12 facility, by the victim, his or her attorney, and any 

13 individual the victim may seek to qualify to furnish 

14 expert testimony. 

15 ‘‘(B) A victim of trafficking in child pornog16 raphy or child pornography production, as those 

17 terms are defined in section 2259(c), his or her at18 torney, and any individual the victim may seek to 

19 qualify to furnish expert testimony may not copy, 

20 photograph, duplicate, or otherwise reproduce any 

21 property or material that constitutes child pornog22 raphy, as defined by section 2256 of this title, so 

23 long as the Government makes the property or mate24 rial reasonably available to the victim, his or her at25 torney, and any individual the victim may seek to 

26 qualify to furnish expert testimony.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) EXPANSION OF CIVIL REMEDIES FOR SATISFAC3 TION OF AN UNPAID FINE.—Section 3613(c) of title 18, 

4 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘an assess5 ment imposed pursuant to section 2259A of this title,’’ 

6 after ‘‘pursuant to the provisions of subchapter C of chap7 ter 227 of this title,’’. 

8 (b) CLARIFICATION OF INTERSTATE OR FOREIGN

9 COMMERCE PROVISION REGARDING CERTAIN ACTIVITIES

10 PERTAINING TO CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.—Section 2252A 

11 (a)(2) of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘using any means or facil14 ity of interstate or foreign commerce’’ and in15 serting ‘‘has been’’; and 

16 (B) by inserting ‘‘using any means or facil17 ity of interstate or foreign commerce or’’ after 

18 ‘‘child pornography’’; and 

19 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘using any means or facil21 ity of interstate or foreign commerce’’ and in22 serting ‘‘has been’’; and 

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘using any means or facil24 ity of interstate or foreign commerce or’’ after 

25 ‘‘child pornography’’. 


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1 (c) CLARIFICATION OF THE DEFINITION OF ‘‘SEXU2 ALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT’’.—Section 2256(2) of title 18, 

3 United States Code, is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (A)(v)— 

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘anus,’’ before ‘‘genitals’’; 

6 and 

7 (B) by inserting a comma after ‘‘genitals’’; 

8 and 

9 (2) in subparagraph (B)(iii)— 

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘anus,’’ before ‘‘genitals’’; 

11 and 

12 (B) by inserting a comma after ‘‘genitals’’. 

13 (d) CLARIFICATION OF THE EXTENT OF THE OF14 FENSE OF COERCION AND ENTICEMENT OF A MINOR.— 

15 Section 3559(e)(2)(A) of title 18, United States Code, is 

16 amended by striking ‘‘into prostitution’’. 

17 SEC. 8. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION. 

18 Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress 

20 a report on the progress of the Department of Justice in 

21 implementing the amendments made by sections 3 

22 through 5. 

Æ 


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