No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3394 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3394
To direct the United States Sentencing Commission to amend the
sentencing guideline relating to child sexual abuse material.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 9, 2025
Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Blackburn, and Mr. Graham)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the United States Sentencing Commission to amend the
sentencing guideline relating to child sexual abuse material.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Sentencing Accountability For
Exploitation Act'' or the ``SAFE Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDELINE RELATING TO CHILD
SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Child.--The term ``child'' means an individual who has
not attained 18 years of age.
(2) Child sexual abuse material.--The term ``child sexual
abuse material'' has the meaning given the term ``child
pornography'' in section 2256(8) of title 18, United States
Code.
(3) Prohibited sexual conduct against a child.--The term
``prohibited sexual conduct against a child''--
(A) means--
(i) conduct committed against a child
relating to--
(I) kidnapping;
(II) illegal sexual abuse, contact,
or activity;
(III) live streaming of child
sexual abuse;
(IV) using a child to produce child
sexual abuse material; or
(V) sexual exploitation, including
child sex trafficking; or
(ii) an attempt or conspiracy to engage in
any conduct described in subclauses (I) through
(V) of clause (i);
(B) does not include conduct involving or similar
to advertising, transporting, mailing, distributing,
receiving, possession, accessing, or viewing child
sexual abuse material; and
(C) does not require a conviction.
(b) Directive.--Pursuant to its authority under section 994(p) of
title 28, United States Code, the United States Sentencing Commission
shall review and amend the Federal sentencing guidelines and policy
statements applicable to persons convicted of an offense under section
1466A, 2251(d)(1)(A), 2252, 2252A, or 2260(b) of title 18, United
States Code, in order to reflect the intent of Congress that penalties
for the offense under the guidelines and policy statements--
(1) appropriately account for--
(A) the actual and potential harm to victims and to
the public from the offense; and
(B) changes that have occurred since the relevant
guidelines and policy statements were last amended with
respect to--
(i) typical offense behavior; and
(ii) the use of modern computer and
internet technologies; and
(2) to better reflect the current spectrum of offender
culpability.
(c) Requirements.--In carrying out subsection (b), the United
States Sentencing Commission shall--
(1) ensure that the Federal sentencing guidelines and
policy statements reflect--
(A) the seriousness of the offenses described in
that subsection;
(B) the need to afford adequate deterrence to
commission of the offenses;
(C) the need for just punishment for the offenses;
(D) the need to protect the public from further
crimes of a defendant convicted of any such offense;
and
(E) the need to differentiate among offenders based
on their culpability and potential dangerousness;
(2) avoid duplicative punishment within the applicable
guidelines and under the Federal sentencing guidelines for
substantially the same conduct;
(3) develop a guideline that accounts for--
(A) whether, prior to, during, or after the offense
at issue, the defendant engaged in, conspired to engage
in, or attempted to engage in--
(i) an act of prohibited conduct against a
child; or
(ii) a pattern of activity involving
prohibited conduct against a child, whether
involving a single victim or multiple victims;
(B) whether, prior to, during, or after the offense
at issue, the defendant--
(i) participated in a group dedicated to
child sexual abuse material or prohibited
conduct against a child; or
(ii) encouraged, instructed, required, or
similarly caused another individual to commit
an offense involving child sexual abuse
material or prohibited conduct against a child;
(C) whether the defendant engaged in multiple acts,
not accounted for in the defendant's criminal history
or counts of conviction, involving child sexual abuse
material over an extended period of time or with a high
degree of frequency;
(D) whether the defendant intentionally used, or
promoted the use of, software, technology, procedures,
or any other means to conceal the offense or the
identity or location of the defendant or any victim, or
to destroy evidence for an improper purpose, unless
accounted for in the conduct of conviction;
(E) whether 3 or more online channels,
technologies, platforms, or methods were used to commit
the offense;
(F) gradations in--
(i) the severity of the depicted sexually
explicit conduct, including especially severe
physical or emotional trauma; and
(ii) the age or physical development of the
minor;
(G) the number of items of child sexual abuse
material or the number of victims involved in the
offense;
(H) whether the offense involved distribution of
child sexual abuse material, accounting for the nature
of the distribution, including--
(i) distribution in order to receive any
valuable consideration; and
(ii) distribution through any method that
does not limit who can obtain the material or
how many individuals can obtain the material;
(I) whether the offense involved the production,
creation, or manufacture of child sexual abuse material
that is not subject to the cross reference in section
2G2.2(c)(1) of the United States Sentencing Guidelines
Manual to section 2G2.1 of the Manual;
(J) whether the offense was the direct and
proximate cause of the victim's death by suicide; and
(K) any other conduct or factors that the United
States Sentencing Commission determines appropriate to
reflect the seriousness of the offense and
differentiate among offenders;
(4) make any necessary conforming changes to the
guidelines; and
(5) ensure that the guidelines adequately meet the purposes
of sentencing, as set forth in section 3553(a)(2) of title 18,
United States Code.
(d) Authority for United States Sentencing Commission.--In carrying
out this section, the United States Sentencing Commission--
(1) may amend provisions of the Federal sentencing
guidelines that were promulgated pursuant to any other specific
congressional directives or legislation directly amending the
guidelines and promulgate amendments that would result in
sentencing ranges different than those that would have applied
under such directives or legislation; and
(2) in developing a guideline that comports with the
requirements of this section, particularly accounting for the
factors set forth in subsection (c)(3)--
(A) may--
(i) design the specific offense
characteristics, including the increase in
offense level that each offense characteristic
would provide; and
(ii) define any terms; and
(B) may not lower the applicable base offense level
provided in section 2G2.2(a) of the United States
Sentencing Guidelines Manual as in effect on the date
of enactment of this Act.
(e) Repeals.--
(1) Laws.--The following provisions of law are repealed:
(A) Section 632 of the Treasury, Postal Service and
General Government Appropriations Act, 1992 (28 U.S.C.
994 note; Public Law 102-141).
(B) Sections 2 and 3 of the Sex Crimes Against
Children Prevention Act of 1995 (28 U.S.C. 994 note;
Public Law 104-71).
(C) Section 401(i)(1) of the Prosecutorial Remedies
and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children
Today Act of 2003 (28 U.S.C. 994 note; Public Law 108-
21).
(2) Guidelines.--Section 2G2.2(b) of the United States
Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual is amended by striking
paragraph (7).
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line