Under Gavin’s Law, a person commits the offense of felony sexual extortion if he/she “intentionally and maliciously threatens to release, exhibit, or distribute a private image of another in order to compel or attempt to compel the victim to do any act or refrain from doing any act against his will, with the intent to obtain additional private images or anything else of value.” A person convicted of felony sexual extortion must be imprisoned:
not more than five years for the first offense;
not more than 10 years for a second offense; or
not more than 20 years for a third or subsequent offense.
A person who commits the offense of aggravated felony sexual extortion occurs when the victim is a minor (under the age of 18), or a vulnerable adult and the person convicted of sexual extortion is an adult or the victim suffers great bodily injury or death, and the “finder of fact finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the sexual extortion of the victim was the proximate cause of the great bodily injury or death.” A person convicted of felony sexual extortion must be imprisoned for not more than 20 years.
If the person convicted is a minor, then he/she is guilty of misdemeanor sexual extortion and must be sentenced by the family court, which may order as a condition of sentencing behavioral health counseling from an appropriate agency or provider.