IC 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2152 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 25, 2018 

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The demand for child pornography harms 

7 children because it drives production, which involves 

8 severe and often irreparable child sexual abuse and 

9 exploitation. 

10 (2) The harms caused by child pornography 

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

12 child pornography is a permanent record of that 

13 abuse and trafficking in those images compounds 

14 the harm to the child. 

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

16 Supreme Court recognized that ‘‘every viewing of 

17 child pornography is a repetition of the victim’s 

18 abuse’’. 

19 (4) The American Professional Society on the 

20 Abuse of Children has stated that for victims of 

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

22 the memorialization of that abuse which becomes 

23 child pornography, and its subsequent distribution 

24 and viewing become psychologically intertwined and 

25 each compound the harm suffered by the child-vic26 tim’’. 


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1 (5) Victims suffer continuing and grievous 

2 harm as a result of knowing that a large, indetermi3 nate number of individuals have viewed and will in 

4 the future view images of their childhood sexual 

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

6 child pornography is outlawed. 

7 (6) The unlawful collective conduct of every in8 dividual who reproduces, distributes, or possesses 

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

10 a part in sustaining and aggravating the harms to 

11 that individual victim. Multiple actors independently 

12 commit intentional crimes that combine to produce 

13 an indivisible injury to a victim. 

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

15 child pornography be fully compensated for all the 

16 harms resulting from every perpetrator who contrib17 utes to their anguish. Such an aggregate causation 

18 standard reflects the nature of child pornography 

19 and the unique ways that it actually harms victims. 

20 SEC. 3. DETERMINING RESTITUTION. 

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

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

23 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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

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

3 order’’; and 

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

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

6 victim’s losses’’; 

7 (2) by striking paragraph (3); 

8 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para9 graph (3); and 

10 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(2) RESTITUTION FOR TRAFFICKING IN CHILD

13 PORNOGRAPHY.—If the defendant was convicted for 

14 trafficking in child pornography, the order of res15 titution under this section shall direct the defendant 

16 to pay the victim (through the appropriate court 

17 mechanism) an amount of restitution determined by 

18 the court as follows: 

19 ‘‘(A) DETERMINING THE FULL AMOUNT OF

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

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

22 incurred or are reasonably projected to be in23 curred by the victim as a result of the traf24 ficking in child pornography. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DETERMINING A RESTITUTION

2 AMOUNT.—After completing the determination 

3 required under subparagraph (A), the court 

4 shall enter an order of restitution against the 

5 defendant in favor of the victim in an amount 

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

7 full amount of the victim’s losses. 

8 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION OF PAYMENT.—A vic9 tim’s total aggregate recovery pursuant to this 

10 section shall not exceed the full amount of the 

11 victim’s demonstrated losses. After the victim 

12 has received restitution in the full amount of 

13 the victim’s losses as measured by the greatest 

14 amount of such losses found in any case involv15 ing that victim that has resulted in a final res16 titution order under this section, the liability of 

17 each defendant who is or has been ordered to 

18 pay restitution for such losses to that victim 

19 shall be terminated. The court may direct the 

20 victim to provide information concerning the 

21 amount of restitution the victim has been paid 

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

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

24 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 


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

2 and inserting ‘‘DEFINITIONS’’; 

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

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(4) VICTIM.—For purposes’’; 

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

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

8 the case’’; 

9 (4) by inserting after ‘‘or any other person ap10 pointed as suitable by the court,’’ the following: 

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

12 section,’’; and 

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

14 designated, the following: 

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

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

17 ‘child pornography production’ means conduct pro18 scribed by subsections (a) through (c) of section 

19 2251, section 2252A(g) (in cases in which the series 

20 of felony violations involves at least 1 of the viola21 tions listed in this section), section 2260(a), or any 

22 offense under chapter 109A or chapter 117 that in23 volved the production of child pornography, as de24 fined in section 2256. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FULL AMOUNT OF THE VICTIM’S

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

3 amount of the victim’s losses’ includes any costs in4 curred, or reasonably projected to be incurred in the 

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

6 in child pornography conviction, as a proximate re7 sult of all trafficking in child pornography offenses 

8 involving the same victim, including— 

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

10 psychiatric, or psychological care; 

11 ‘‘(B) physical and occupational therapy or 

12 rehabilitation; 

13 ‘‘(C) necessary transportation, temporary 

14 housing, and child care expenses; 

15 ‘‘(D) lost income; 

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

17 incurred; and 

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

19 the victim. 

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

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

22 term ‘trafficking in child pornography’ means con23 duct proscribed by section 2251(d), 2251A, 2252, 

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1 ries of felony violations exclusively involves violations 

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

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

4 title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘sec5 tion 2259(b)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2259(c)(2)’’. 

6 SEC. 4. DEFINED MONETARY ASSISTANCE. 

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

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(d) DEFINED MONETARY ASSISTANCE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DEFINED MONETARY ASSISTANCE MADE

11 AVAILABLE AT VICTIM’S ELECTION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) ELECTION TO RECEIVE DEFINED

13 MONETARY ASSISTANCE.—Subject to para14 graphs (2) and (3), if the defendant was con15 victed of child pornography production, the vic16 tim of child pornography production may choose 

17 to receive defined monetary assistance from the 

18 Child Pornography Victims’ Reserve established 

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

20 Crime Act of 1984. 

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

22 monetary assistance under this subsection, a 

23 court shall determine whether the claimant is a 

24 victim of the defendant who was convicted of 

25 child pornography production. 


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

2 a claimant is a victim of child pornography pro3 duction under subparagraph (B) and the claim4 ant chooses to receive defined monetary assist5 ance, the court shall order payment in accord6 ance with subparagraph (D) to the victim from 

7 the Child Pornography Victims’ Reserve estab8 lished under section 1402(d)(6) of the Victims 

9 of Crime Act of 1984. 

10 ‘‘(D) AMOUNT OF DEFINED MONETARY AS11 SISTANCE.—The amount of defined monetary 

12 assistance payable under this subparagraph 

13 shall be equal to— 

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

15 the date of enactment of this subsection, 

16 $35,000; and 

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

18 year described in clause (i), $35,000 multi19 plied by the ratio (not less than one) of— 

20 ‘‘(I) the Consumer Price Index 

21 for all Urban Consumer (CPI–U, as 

22 published by the Bureau of Labor 

23 Statistics of the Department of 

24 Labor) for the calendar year pre25 ceding such calendar year; to 


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1 ‘‘(II) the CPI–U for the calendar 

2 year 2 years before the calendar year 

3 described in clause (i). 

4 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON DEFINED MONETARY AS5 SISTANCE.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A victim may only ob7 tain defined monetary assistance under this 

8 subsection once. 

9 ‘‘(B) EFFECT ON RECOVERY OF OTHER

10 RESTITUTION.—A victim who obtains defined 

11 monetary assistance under this subsection shall 

12 not be barred or limited from receiving restitu13 tion against any defendant for any offenses not 

14 covered by this section. 

15 ‘‘(C) DEDUCTION.—If a victim who re16 ceived defined monetary assistance under this 

17 subsection subsequently seeks restitution under 

18 this section, the court shall deduct the amount 

19 the victim received in defined monetary assist20 ance when determining the full amount of the 

21 victim’s losses. 

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

23 who has collected payment of restitution pursuant to 

24 this section in an amount greater than the amount 

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1 gible to receive defined monetary assistance under 

2 this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(4) GUARDIAN AD LITEM.— 

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

5 child pornography production, the court shall 

6 appoint a guardian ad litem, who shall be an 

7 attorney, for each identified victim of the child 

8 pornography production, pursuant to section 

9 3509(h). 

10 ‘‘(B) FEES.—A guardian ad litem ap11 pointed pursuant to this subsection may not 

12 charge, receive, or collect, without court ap13 proval for good cause shown, any fees or pay14 ment of expenses that in the aggregate exceed 

15 10 percent of any defined monetary assistance 

16 payment made under this subsection. 

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

18 who violates subparagraph (B) shall be fined 

19 under this title, imprisoned for not more than 

20 one year, or both.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. ASSESSMENTS IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASES. 

22 (a) ASSESSMENTS IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

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

24 amended by inserting after section 2259 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 2259A. Assessments in child pornography cases 

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

3 penalty, restitution, or special assessment authorized by 

4 law, the court shall assess— 

5 ‘‘(1) not more than $17,000 on any person con6 victed of an offense under section 2252(a)(4) or 

7 2252A(a)(5); 

8 ‘‘(2) not more than $35,000 on any person con9 victed of any other offense for trafficking in child 

10 pornography; and 

11 ‘‘(3) not more than $50,000 on any person con12 victed of a child pornography production offense. 

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

14 subsection (a) shall be adjusted annually in conformity 

15 with the Consumer Price Index. 

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

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

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

19 3572. 

20 ‘‘(d) IMPOSITION AND IMPLEMENTATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of sub22 chapter C of chapter 227 (other than section 3571) 

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

24 apply to assessments under this section, except that 

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1 sions of law relating to fines or disbursement of 

2 money received from a defendant. 

3 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON OTHER PENALTIES.—Imposi4 tion of an assessment under this section does not re5 lieve a defendant of, or entitle a defendant to reduce 

6 the amount of any other penalty by the amount of 

7 the assessment. Any money received from a defend8 ant shall be disbursed so that each of the following 

9 obligations is paid in full in the following sequence: 

10 ‘‘(A) A special assessment under section 

11 3013. 

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

13 pornography production offense that the de14 fendant committed. 

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

16 restitution to victims of any trafficking in child 

17 pornography offenses. 

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

19 of this title. 

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

21 other payments required under the sentence.’’. 

22 (b) CHILD PORNOGRAPHY VICTIMS RESERVE.—Sec23 tion 1402(d) the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 

24 20101(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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

2 $10,000,000 of the amounts remaining in the Fund in any 

3 fiscal year after distributing the amounts under para4 graphs (2), (3), and (4), in a Child Pornography Victims 

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

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

7 Code. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

14 subject to any limitation on obligations from amounts de15 posited to or available in the Fund.’’. 

16 (c) CHILD PORNOGRAPHY VICTIMS RESERVE.— 

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

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

19 (a), the following: 

20 ‘‘§ 2259B. Child pornography victims reserve 

21 ‘‘(a) DEPOSITS INTO THE RESERVE.—Notwith22 standing any other provision of law, there shall be depos23 ited into the Child Pornography Victims Reserve estab24 lished under section 1402(d)(6) of the Victims of Crime 

25 Act of 1984 all assessments collected under section 2259A 


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1 and any gifts, bequests, or donations to the Child Pornog2 raphy Victims Reserve from private entities or individuals. 

3 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY FOR DEFINED MONETARY AS4 SISTANCE.—Amounts in the Child Pornography Victims 

5 Reserve shall be available for payment of defined monetary 

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

7 Child Pornography Victims Reserve has insufficient funds 

8 to make all of the payments ordered under section 

9 2259(d), the Child Pornography Victims Reserve shall 

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

11 funds. In determining the order in which such payments 

12 shall be made, the Child Pornography Victims Reserve 

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

14 with the earliest-ordered payments made first. 

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

16 administer the Child Pornography Victims Reserve and 

17 shall issue guidelines and regulations to implement this 

18 section. 

19 ‘‘(d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con20 gress that individuals who violate this chapter before this 

21 legislation is enacted, but who are sentenced after this leg22 islation is enacted, shall be subject to the statutory scheme 

23 that was in effect at the time the offenses were com24 mitted.’’. 


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

2 for chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, is amend3 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 2259 the 

4 following: 

‘‘2259A. Assessments in child pornography cases. 

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

5 SEC. 6. CHILD PORNOGRAPHY VICTIM’S RIGHT TO EVI6 DENCE. 

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

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

10 trafficking in child pornography or child pornog11 raphy production, as those terms are defined in sec12 tion 2259(c), shall have access to any property or 

13 material that constitutes child pornography, as de14 fined by section 2256, depicting the victim, for in15 spection, viewing, and examination at a Government 

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

17 individual the victim may seek to qualify to furnish 

18 expert testimony. 

19 ‘‘(B) A victim of trafficking in child pornog20 raphy or child pornography production, as those 

21 terms are defined in section 2259(c), his or her at22 torney, and any individual the victim may seek to 

23 qualify to furnish expert testimony may not copy, 

24 photograph, duplicate, or otherwise reproduce any 


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1 property or material that constitutes child pornog2 raphy, as defined by section 2256 of this title, so 

3 long as the Government makes the property or mate4 rial reasonably available to the victim, his or her at5 torney, and any individual the victim may seek to 

6 qualify to furnish expert testimony.’’. 

7 SEC. 7. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS. 

8 (a) EXPANSION OF CIVIL REMEDIES FOR SATISFAC9 TION OF AN UNPAID FINE.—Section 3613(c) of title 18, 

10 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘an assess11 ment imposed pursuant to section 2259A of this title,’’ 

12 after ‘‘pursuant to the provisions of subchapter C of chap13 ter 227 of this title,’’. 

14 (b) CLARIFICATION OF INTERSTATE OR FOREIGN

15 COMMERCE PROVISION REGARDING CERTAIN ACTIVITIES

16 PERTAINING TO CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.—Section 2252A 

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

18 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘using any means or facil20 ity of interstate or foreign commerce’’ and in21 serting ‘‘has been’’; and 

22 (B) by inserting ‘‘using any means or facil23 ity of interstate or foreign commerce or’’ after 

24 ‘‘child pornography’’; and 

25 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘using any means or facil2 ity of interstate or foreign commerce’’ and in3 serting ‘‘has been’’; and 

4 (B) by inserting ‘‘using any means or facil5 ity of interstate or foreign commerce or’’ after 

6 ‘‘child pornography’’. 

7 (c) CLARIFICATION OF THE DEFINITION OF ‘‘SEXU8 ALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT’’.—Section 2256(2) of title 18, 

9 United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (A)(v)— 

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

12 and 

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

14 and 

15 (2) in subparagraph (B)(iii)— 

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

17 and 

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

19 (d) CLARIFICATION OF THE EXTENT OF THE OF20 FENSE OF COERCION AND ENTICEMENT OF A MINOR.— 

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

22 amended by striking ‘‘into prostitution’’. 

23 SEC. 8. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION. 

24 Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment 

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


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

2 implementing the amendments made by sections 3 

3 through 5. 

Passed the Senate January 23, 2018. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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