Missouri Laws 573.020 – Promoting obscenity in the first degree — penalty
1. A person commits the offense of promoting obscenity in the first degree if, knowing of its content and character, such person:
(1) Wholesale promotes or possesses with the purpose to wholesale promote any obscene material; or
Attorney's Note
Under the Missouri Laws, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class E felony | up to 4 years | up to $10,000 |
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 573.020
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Material: anything printed or written, or any picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture film, videotape or videotape production, or pictorial representation, or any recording or transcription, or any mechanical, chemical, or electrical reproduction, or stored computer data, or anything which is or may be used as a means of communication. See Missouri Laws 573.010
- Minor: any person less than eighteen years of age. See Missouri Laws 573.010
- Obscene: any material or performance if, taken as a whole:
(a) Applying contemporary community standards, its predominant appeal is to prurient interest in sex. See Missouri Laws 573.010
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Pornographic for minors: any material or performance if the following apply:
(a) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material or performance, taken as a whole, has a tendency to cater or appeal to a prurient interest of minors. See Missouri Laws 573.010
- Promote: to manufacture, issue, sell, provide, mail, deliver, transfer, transmute, publish, distribute, circulate, disseminate, present, exhibit, or advertise, or to offer or agree to do the same, by any means including a computer. See Missouri Laws 573.010
(2) Wholesale promotes for minors or possesses with the purpose to wholesale promote for minors any material pornographic for minors; or
(3) Promotes, wholesale promotes or possesses with the purpose to wholesale promote for minors material that is pornographic for minors via computer, internet or computer network if the person made the matter available to a specific individual known by the defendant to be a minor.
2. The offense of promoting obscenity in the first degree is a class E felony.
3. As used in this section, “wholesale promote” means to manufacture, issue, sell, provide, mail, deliver, transfer, transmute, publish, distribute, circulate, disseminate, or to offer or agree to do the same for purposes of resale or redistribution.