Idaho Code
Idaho Code

Idaho Code § 18-1515 (2026)

Disseminating material harmful to minors — Defined — Penalty. 

✓ current as of May 2026
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Disseminating material harmful to minors — Defined — Penalty. 

A person is guilty of disseminating material harmful to minors when:

1.  He knowingly gives or makes available to a minor or promotes or possesses with intent to promote to minors, or he knowingly sells or loans to a minor for monetary consideration:
(a)  Any picture, photograph, drawing, sculpture, motion picture film, or similar visual representation or image of a person or portion of the human body which depicts nudity, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse and which is harmful to minors; or
(b)  Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter however reproduced, or sound recording which contains any matter enumerated in paragraph (a) hereof, or explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse and which, taken as a whole, is harmful to minors; or
(c)  Any other material harmful to minors.
2.  With reference to a motion picture, show or other presentation which depicts nudity, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse, and which is harmful to minors, he knowingly:
(a)  Exhibits such motion picture, show or other presentation to a minor for a monetary consideration; or
(b)  Sells to a minor an admission ticket or pass to premises whereon there is exhibited or to be exhibited such motion picture, show or other presentation; or
(c)  Admits a minor for a monetary consideration to premises whereon there is exhibited or to be exhibited such motion picture, show or other presentation; or
(d)  Exhibits such motion picture, show or other presentation to a minor not for a monetary consideration; or
(e)  Gives without monetary consideration to a minor an admission ticket or pass to premises where there is exhibited or to be exhibited such motion picture, show, or other presentation.
Disseminating material harmful to minors is a misdemeanor punishable by confinement in the county jail not to exceed one (1) year, or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both such fine and jail sentence.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1997–2024 · leading case: Reno v. Am. Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844 (1997).
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Reno v. Am. Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844 (1997). · cites it 4× “§ 712-1215 (1)(b) (1994) (no minors in movie houses or shows that are "pornographic for minors"); Idaho Code § 18-1515 (2) (1987) (no minors in places displaying movies or shows that are "harmful to minors"); La.”
State v. Byington, 977 P.2d 211 (Idaho Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 12× “Idaho Code § 18-1515 states in relevant part (with emphasis): Disseminating material harmful to minors—Defined—Penalty.”
Hughes v. State, 224 P.3d 515 (Idaho Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 2× “§ 18-1508A, one count of disseminating material harmful to minors, I.C. § 18-1515(l)(a), and two counts of possession of sexually exploitive materials, I.”
State v. Parsons, 543 P.3d 465 (Idaho 2024). · cites it 2× “§ 18-1508, and one misdemeanor count of disseminating harmful 1 material to a minor, I.C. § 18-1515. The offenses occurred between September 2018 and September 2019 while Parsons was living with his then-girlfriend and her daughter, K.”
State v. Edward Nicholas Bursiel (Idaho Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 2× “FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Bursiel was arrested and charged with one count of enticing a child through use of the Internet, Idaho Code § 18 -1509A, and one count of disseminating material harmful to minors, 1 I.C. § 18-1515. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Bursiel pleaded…”
State v. Caldrer (Idaho Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 2× “§ 18-1506(1)(d); and disseminating material harmful to minors, I.C. § 18-1515. The State filed an information part II alleging Caldrer was a persistent violator of the law, I.”
State v. Parsons (Idaho Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 2× “________________________________________________ HUSKEY, Judge William Norwood Parsons appeals from his judgment of conviction for three felony counts of lewd conduct with a minor under sixteen, Idaho Code § 18-1508 , and one misdemeanor count of disseminating material harmful…”
State v. Parsons (Idaho 2024). · cites it 2× “§ 18-1508, and one misdemeanor count of disseminating harmful 1 material to a minor, I.C. § 18-1515. The offenses occurred between September 2018 and September 2019 while Parsons was living with his then-girlfriend and her daughter, K.”
State v. Scott Beau Votroubek (Idaho Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 2× “§ 18-1506(1)(b); and two counts of disseminating material harmful to minors, I.C. § 18-1515. The district court imposed concurrent unified life sentences with fifteen years 1 determinate for the two counts of lewd conduct with a child under sixteen, twenty years with fifteen…”
— Idaho Code § 18-1515(1)(a) — 1 case
State v. Byington, 977 P.2d 211 (Idaho Ct. App. 1998). “Idaho Code § 18-1515 states in relevant part (with emphasis): Disseminating material harmful to minors—Defined—Penalty.”
— Idaho Code § 18-1515(l)(a) — 2 cases
Hughes v. State, 224 P.3d 515 (Idaho Ct. App. 2009). “§ 18-1508A, one count of disseminating material harmful to minors, I.C. § 18-1515(l)(a), and two counts of possession of sexually exploitive materials, I.”
State v. Byington, 977 P.2d 211 (Idaho Ct. App. 1998). “Idaho Code § 18-1515 states in relevant part (with emphasis): Disseminating material harmful to minors—Defined—Penalty.”
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