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Notes -
That last link on Maryland's laws is confusing me. In particular, section (c) is almost redundant. It's basically trying to say "parents with photos of their kids who happen to be nude aren't in violation unless it's like actually porn" to prevent overapplication of the law where it's not intended, so that when your four year old goes streaking across an otherwise wholesome family video you don't go to jail as a sex offender.
But the specific wording in section (c) is different from the wording in section (a), which draws attention to the differences. In section (a), it says you can't have media where the minor is
(1) engaged as a subject of sadomasochistic abuse; (2) engaged in sexual conduct; or (3) in a state of sexual excitement.
In section (c) it says parents may not have media of their own children where the minor is engaged
(1) as a subject of sadomasochistic abuse; or (2) in sexual conduct and in a state of sexual excitement.
Which means that parents specifically ARE allowed to have content where their child is engaged in sexual conduct XOR in a state of sexual excitement, as long as it's not both simultaneously???
Is this reading correct? Maybe they're trying to ward off the case where a two year old is having their diaper changed and pops a boner randomly? I'm not sure why you'd be filming that in the first place, but I suppose it makes sense not to prosecute it on the same level as actual CP.
However this opens a logical loophole where it appears that the law as written would allow pornographic videos involving your own children (with unambiguously sexual conduct), as long as it's not sadomasochistic in nature, and the child themself is not sexually excited by it (so them pleasuring an adult would be fine), since such an act wouldn't meet the criteria for c1 or c2. What am I missing here?
Honestly, just looks like bad drafting. It's clearly intended to parallel the language of 11-208(a) and would, I expect, be enforced in that way. But on this topic perhaps more than any other, people will avoid pointing out even obvious drafting issues for fear of being accused of being opposed to such laws.
I think framing the objection as "this law is technically worded in a way that allows parents to get away with making porn of their own children if they exploit this loophole, we should make it stricter to fix that loophole" would not get someone chastised as being pro-pedo. You're generally allowed to make things more strict. Even if it's obvious that in practice a jury would just handwave the discrepancy and convict them anyway.
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