FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
May 31, 2017
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Steve Marshall
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
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Alabama Attorney General
AG MARSHALL, OFFICE OF PROSECUTION SERVICES
PRAISE BIPARTISAN NEW SEX OFFENSE LEGISLATION
SIGNED BY GOVERNOR IVEY
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Steve Marshall and Barry Matson,
executive director of the Alabama Office of Prosecution Services, thanked Governor
Kay Ivey for signing legislation that strengthens Alabama’s sex offense laws. The
legislation was a joint proposal of the Attorney General’s Office and the Office of
Prosecution Services, the state agency that provides resources to district attorneys’
offices throughout Alabama.
The proposal received bipartisan support in the Legislature. Senator Vivian
Figures sponsored the legislation and spearheaded its passage. Representative Randy
Wood assisted by handling the bill on the floor of the House of Representatives.
Attorney General Marshall thanked the sponsors and noted the bill’s
significance. “I appreciate the leadership of Senator Figures, Representative Wood, and
all members of the Legislature who played a role in bringing this important legislation
to fruition,” said Attorney General Marshall. “This legislation gives Alabama
prosecutors one more tool to protect our children and other vulnerable persons from
the devastating effects of sexual misconduct.” Attorney General Marshall also thanked
the Office of Prosecution Services and the State’s district attorneys, heralding them “for
recognizing the need for this law and for their steadfast dedication to protecting the
people of Alabama.”
Executive Director Matson voiced similar appreciation for the new law.
“Government has no higher calling than the protection of its citizens, especially its most
vulnerable,” said Executive Director Matson. “I am grateful to the sponsor, Vivian
Figures, members of the Legislature, and Governor Kay Ivey for the enactment of SB
- The leadership of the Attorney General’s office under Steve Marshall has
demonstrated their strong commitment to protecting Alabama’s children.”
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
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The law primarily creates four new sex-related criminal offenses:
- Distribution of a private image, also known as “revenge porn” or
“nonconsensual pornography,” will now be a class A misdemeanor for the first
offense and class C felony for subsequent offenses. This covers distributing
intimate, private images of someone when the depicted person did not consent to
the transmission and the perpetrator intended to harass or intimidate the
depicted person. - Sextortion is the use of threatening communications, often online, to induce the
victim to engage in unwanted sexual activity. This will now be a class B felony. - Assault with bodily fluids has increasingly occurred in recent years with the use
of seminal fluid to attack a victim; attacking law enforcement personnel with
bodily fluids is also a regrettably frequent occurrence in jails and prisons. This
will now be a class A misdemeanor (or a class C felony if the offender knows he
or she has a communicable disease). - Directing children to engage in sexual acts will be a class C felony if the offender
directs children to engage in sexual contact with one another; it becomes a class
A felony if the offender directs the children to engage in sexual intercourse or
deviate sexual intercourse.
The legislation also amends existing law in various respects. For example, the
legislation broadens the existing offense known as “electronic solicitation of a child” to
cover certain grooming behaviors by would-be child molesters. The act also strengthens
and clarifies various provisions of the Alabama Sex Offender Registration and
Community Notification Act. For example, it allows judges to exempt juveniles from
sex-offender registration if they were found to have engaged in sexting-type behaviors.
Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to one year in jail, class C felonies
by one to 10 years’ imprisonment, and class B felonies two to 20 years.
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