LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE

ASSEMBLY, No. 2312

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

 

DATED: FEBRUARY 26, 2026

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Synopsis:

Creates separate crime for items depicting sexual exploitation or abuse of children; concerns computer generated or manipulated sexually explicit images.

Type of Impact:

Annual State expenditure and revenue increases.

Agencies Affected:

The Judiciary; Department of Law and Public Safety; Department of Corrections; State Parole Board; Office of the Public Defender.

 

 

Office of Legislative Services Estimate

Fiscal Impact

 

Annual 

 

 

State Expenditure Increase

 

Indeterminate

 

 

State Revenue Increase

 

Indeterminate

 

 

 

·         The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that this bill will result in an indeterminate annual increase in State expenditures and revenues.  The OLS lacks sufficient information to quantify the fiscal impact, as it is not possible to estimate the number of crimes likely to be prosecuted under the provisions of this bill.

·         The bill creates a separate and distinct crime of child sexual abuse and exploitation material, which is currently part of the statute concerning child endangerment.  The OLS finds that creating a distinct crime could potentially result in more prosecutions.  However, it is not entirely clear that re-codifying child sexual abuse and exploitation material under a separate statute would result in additional prosecution.  If the number of prosecutions were to increase, the following agencies would experience a caseload increase: i) the Department of Law and Public Safety would provide guidance and other information related to the prosecution of the cases; ii) the Judiciary would have to adjudicate additional complaints and monitor additional probationers; iii) the Office of the Public Defender would have to represent additional low-income criminal defendants; iv) the Department of Corrections would have to house and care for additional offenders; and v) the State Parole Board would have to supervise the return to society of additional offenders.

·         The OLS notes that the State may receive indeterminate revenues from fines imposed on individuals convicted of these crimes; however, the State’s ability to collect fines has been historically limited.

 

 

BILL DESCRIPTION

 

      This bill amends and updates the law prohibiting child sexual abuse and exploitation material in three respects.  First, the statute concerning child sexual abuse and exploitation material is separated from its current placement within the statute concerning child endangerment to create a separate and distinct crime.  This is intended to provide clarity in law enforcement, court documents, and the analysis and tracking of crime statistics when referring to child sexual abuse and exploitation material, rather than the broader crime of child endangerment. 

      Second, the crime of child sexual abuse and exploitation material is expanded to include manipulated depictions that, by means of image manipulation, creation, or modification, appear to show an identifiable child or a purported child engaging in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation of such an act. 

      Third, the bill amends certain definitions concerning sexually exploitative, but less than fully nude, depictions of children, also known as “child erotica,” in order to conform the statute with the decision of the State Supreme Court in State v. Higginbotham, 257 N.J. 260 (2024), which held that certain provisions of the statute concerning “child erotica” were unconstitutional.

      The bill also amends current law concerning obscenity to include manipulated depictions that, by means of image manipulation, creation, or modification, appear to show a purported child engaging in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation of such an act.

      The bill also amends current law concerning leaders of networks that share child sexual abuse or exploitation material to conform with the provision of the child sexual abuse or exploitation material statute concerning possession with intent to distribute.  Under current law, leading a network that shares child sexual abuse or exploitation material is: a crime of the first degree if the offense involves 100,000 or more items depicting the sexual exploitation or abuse of a child; a crime of the second degree if the offense involves at least 1,000 but less than 100,000 items; and a crime of the third degree if the offense involves less than 1,000 items.  Under the bill, leading a network that shares child sexual abuse or exploitation material is a crime of the first degree if the offense involves 1,000 or more items; otherwise, it is a crime of the second degree.  The bill would make these the same thresholds as the crime of possession with intent to distribute child sexual abuse or exploitation material.

      A crime of the first degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of 10 to 20 years, a fine of up to $200,000, or both.  A crime of the second degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of five to 10 years, a fine of up to $150,000, or both.  A crime of the third degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of three to five years, a fine of up to $15,000, or both.

      Finally, the bill also amends the invasion of privacy statute in two respects.  First, the statute is amended to include manipulated depictions that, by means of image manipulation, creation, or modification, appear to show an intimate or sexually-explicit image of a person who did not in fact consent to such depiction or engage in the depicted conduct.  Second, the statute is amended to clarify that a person’s consent to being photographed, filmed, or recorded in an intimate or sexual manner does not imply consent to the distribution of such images.

 

FISCAL ANALYSIS

 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

 

        None received.

 

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES

 

      The OLS concludes that this bill will result in an indeterminate annual increase in State expenditures and revenues.  The OLS lacks sufficient information to quantify the fiscal impact, as it is not possible to estimate the number of crimes likely to be prosecuted under the provisions of this bill. 

      The bill creates a separate and distinct crime of child sexual abuse and exploitation material, which is currently part of the statute concerning child endangerment.  The OLS finds that creating a distinct crime could potentially result in more prosecutions.  However, it is not entirely clear that re-codifying child sexual abuse and exploitation material under a separate statute would necessarily result in additional prosecutions.    If the number of prosecutions were to increase, the following agencies would experience a caseload increase: i) the Department of Law and Public Safety would provide guidance and other information related to the prosecution of the cases; ii) the Judiciary would have to adjudicate additional complaints and monitor additional probationers; iii) the Office of the Public Defender would have to represent additional low-income criminal defendants; iv) the Department of Corrections would have to house and care for additional offenders; and v) the State Parole Board would have to supervise the return to society of additional offenders.

      Furthermore, the bill lowers the threshold for the number of items depicting the sexual exploitation or abuse of a child in possession by a leader of a network with intent to distribute.  Per the bill, leading a network that shares child sexual abuse or exploitation material is a crime of the first degree if the offense involves 1,000 or more items; otherwise, it is a crime of the second degree.  Therefore, the OLS finds that this will result in longer terms of incarceration for convicted individuals.  For context, according to the Department of Corrections’ January 2025 Population Characteristics Report, there are 505 individuals incarcerated for “Other Sex” based offenses.  Violent offenses grouped as “Other Sex” include criminal sexual attempt, child pornography (i.e. child sexual abuse and exploitation material), endangering the welfare of a child, prostitution, and sex offender registration violations.

      The OLS notes that to the extent the bill results in additional or longer incarcerations, the Department of Corrections would incur those costs.  Based on information provided by the department in response to an FY 2026 OLS Budget Discussion Point question, the projected FY 2026 average annual cost for housing an incarcerated individual is $71,514, with an average daily marginal cost of housing one additional incarcerated person of $12.03.

      According to the State Parole Board, the annual average annual marginal cost to supervising one additional parolee is estimated at $3,886 for FY 2025. The average cost per parolee, with all overhead costs included, is estimated at $6,609 for FY 2025.  Notably, certain child sexual abuse and exploitation material offenses that are crimes of the first and second degree trigger parole supervision for life under Megan’s Law.

 

Section:

Judiciary Section

Analyst:

Anuja Pande Joshi

Senior Fiscal Analyst

Approved:

Thomas Koenig

Legislative Budget and Finance Officer

 

 

This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

 

This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).