II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2301 

To amend section 2259 of title 18, United States Code, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2014 

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

TOOMEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. GRAHAM, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. GRASSLEY, 

Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. CORNYN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. PRYOR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend section 2259 of title 18, United States Code, 

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 and Vicky Child 

5 Pornography Victim Restitution Improvement Act of 

6 2014’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The demand for child pornography harms 

2 children because it drives production, which involves 

3 severe and often irreparable child sexual abuse and 

4 exploitation. 

5 (2) The harms caused by child pornography are 

6 more extensive than the harms caused by child sex 

7 abuse alone because child pornography is a perma8 nent record of the abuse of the depicted child, and 

9 the harm to the child is exacerbated by its circula10 tion. Every viewing of child pornography is a repeti11 tion of the victim’s original childhood sexual abuse. 

12 (3) Victims suffer continuing and grievous 

13 harm as a result of knowing that a large, indetermi14 nate number of individuals have viewed and will in 

15 the future view images of their childhood sexual 

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

17 child pornography is outlawed. 

18 (4) The unlawful collective conduct of every in19 dividual who reproduces, distributes, or possesses 

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

21 a part in sustaining and aggravating the harms to 

22 that individual victim. Multiple actors independently 

23 commit intentional crimes that combine to produce 

24 an indivisible injury to a victim. 


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1 (5) It is the intent of Congress that victims of 

2 child pornography be fully compensated for all the 

3 harms resulting from each and every perpetrator 

4 who contributes to their anguish. 

5 (6) Congress intends to adopt and hereby 

6 adopts an aggregate causation standard to address 

7 the unique crime of child pornography and the 

8 unique harms caused by child pornography. 

9 (7) Victims should not be limited to receiving 

10 restitution from defendants only for losses caused by 

11 each defendant’s own offense of conviction. Courts 

12 must apply a less restrictive aggregate causation 

13 standard in child pornography cases, while also rec14 ognizing appropriate constitutional limits and pro15 tections for defendants. 

16 SEC. 3. MANDATORY RESTITUTION. 

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

18 amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (3) 

20 and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—(A) For purposes of this 

22 subsection, the term ‘full amount of the victim’s 

23 losses’ includes any costs incurred by the victim 

24 for— 


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1 ‘‘(i) lifetime medical services relating to 

2 physical, psychiatric, or psychological care; 

3 ‘‘(ii) lifetime physical and occupational 

4 therapy or rehabilitation; 

5 ‘‘(iii) necessary transportation, temporary 

6 housing, and child care expenses; 

7 ‘‘(iv) lifetime lost income; and 

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

9 incurred. 

10 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this subsection, the term 

11 ‘full amount of the victim’s losses’ also includes any 

12 other losses suffered by the victim, in addition to the 

13 costs listed in subparagraph (A), if those losses are 

14 a proximate result of the offense. 

15 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this subsection, the term 

16 ‘full amount of the victim’s losses’ also includes any 

17 losses suffered by the victim from any sexual act or 

18 sexual conduct (as those terms are defined in section 

19 2246) in preparation for or during the production of 

20 child pornography depicting the victim involved in 

21 the offense.’’; 

22 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub23 section (d); 

24 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(c) DETERMINING RESTITUTION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) HARMED BY ONE DEFENDANT.—If the vic3 tim was harmed as a result of the commission of an 

4 offense under section 2251, 2251A, 2252, 2252A, or 

5 2260 by 1 defendant, the court shall determine the 

6 full amount of the victim’s losses caused by the de7 fendant and enter an order of restitution for an 

8 amount that is not less than the full amount of the 

9 victim’s losses. 

10 ‘‘(2) HARMED BY MORE THAN ONE DEFEND11 ANT.—If the victim was harmed as a result of of12 fenses under section 2251, 2251A, 2252, 2252A, or 

13 2260 by more than 1 person, regardless of whether 

14 the persons have been charged, prosecuted, or con15 victed in any Federal or State court of competent ju16 risdiction within the United States, the court shall 

17 determine the full amount of the victim’s losses 

18 caused by all such persons, or reasonably expected 

19 to be caused by such persons, and enter an order of 

20 restitution against the defendant in favor of the vic21 tim for— 

22 ‘‘(A) the full amount of the victim’s losses; 

23 or 


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1 ‘‘(B) an amount that is not more than the 

2 amount described in subparagraph (A) and not 

3 less than— 

4 ‘‘(i) $250,000 for any offense or of5 fenses under section 2251(a), 2251(b), 

6 2251(c), 2251A, 2252A(g), or 2260(a); 

7 ‘‘(ii) $150,000 for any offense or of8 fenses under section 2251(d), 2252(a)(1), 

9 2252(a)(2), 2252(a)(3), 2252A(a)(1), 

10 2252A(a)(2), 2252A(a)(3), 2252A(a)(4), 

11 2252A(a)(6), 2252A(a)(7), or 2260(b); or 

12 ‘‘(iii) $25,000 for any offense or of13 fenses under section 2252(a)(4) or 

14 2252A(a)(5). 

15 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF RESTITUTION.—No 

16 order of restitution issued under this section may ex17 ceed the full amount of the victim’s losses. 

18 ‘‘(4) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—Each 

19 defendant against whom an order of restitution is 

20 issued under paragraph (2)(A) shall be jointly and 

21 severally liable to the victim with all other defend22 ants against whom an order of restitution is issued 

23 under paragraph (2)(A) in favor of such victim. 

24 ‘‘(5) CONTRIBUTION.—Each defendant who is 

25 ordered to pay restitution under paragraph (2)(A), 


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1 and has made full payment to the victim equal to or 

2 exceeding the statutory minimum amount described 

3 in paragraph (2)(B), may recover contribution from 

4 any defendant who is also ordered to pay restitution 

5 under paragraph (2)(A). Such claims shall be 

6 brought in accordance with this section and the Fed7 eral Rules of Civil Procedure. In resolving contribu8 tion claims, the court may allocate payments among 

9 liable parties using such equitable factors as the 

10 court determines are appropriate so long as no pay11 ments to victims are reduced or delayed. No action 

12 for contribution may be commenced more than 5 

13 years after the date on which the defendant seeking 

14 contribution was ordered to pay restitution under 

15 this section.’’; 

16 (4) in subsection (d), as redesignated, by strik17 ing ‘‘a commission of a crime under this chapter,’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘or by the commission of (i) an of19 fense under this chapter or (ii) a series of offenses 

20 under this chapter committed by the defendant and 

21 other persons causing aggregated losses,’’; and 

22 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

24 of enactment of the Amy and Vicky Child Pornography 

25 Victim Restitution Improvement Act of 2014, the AttorVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:49 May 12, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301

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1 ney General shall submit to Congress a report on the 

2 progress, if any, of the Department of Justice in obtaining 

3 restitution for victims of any offense under section 2251, 

4 2251A, 2252, 2252A, or 2260.’’. 

Æ 


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