1. It shall be unlawful to employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, coerce, solicit, knowingly
permit, or otherwise cause or attempt to cause a minor or a law enforcement officer or agent
posing as a minor to engage in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation of a prohibited
sexual act. A person must know, or have reason to know, or intend that the act or simulated
act may be photographed, filmed, or otherwise preserved in a visual depiction. A person who
commits a violation of this subsection commits a class “B” felony. Notwithstanding section
902.9, the court may assess a fine of not more than fifty thousand dollars for each offense
under this subsection in addition to imposing any other authorized sentence.
2. It shall be unlawful to knowingly promote any material visually depicting a live
performance of a minor engaging in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation of a
prohibited sexual act. A person who commits a violation of this subsection commits a class
“C” felony. Notwithstanding section 902.9, the court may assess a fine of not more than
twenty-five thousand dollars for each offense under this subsection in addition to imposing
any other authorized sentence.
3. a. It shall be unlawful to knowingly purchase or possess a visual depiction of a minor
engaging in a prohibited sexual act or the simulation of a prohibited sexual act.
b. (1) A visual depiction containing pictorial representations of different minors shall be\n\nTue Dec 09 21:55:34 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 728 (30, 2)
5 OBSCENITY, §728.14\n\nprosecuted and punished as separate offenses for each pictorial representation of a different
minor in the visual depiction.
(2) Violations of this subsection involving multiple visual depictions of the same minor
shall be prosecuted and punished as separate offenses for each pictorial representation of
the same minor.
c. A person who commits a violation of this subsection commits a class “D” felony for a
first offense and a class “C” felony for a second or subsequent offense.
d. For purposes of this subsection, an offense is considered a second or subsequent
offense if, prior to the person’s having been convicted under this subsection, the person
has a prior conviction or deferred judgment under this subsection or has a prior conviction
or deferred judgment in another jurisdiction for a substantially similar offense. The court
shall judicially notice the statutes of other states that define offenses substantially similar to
the offenses defined in this subsection and that therefore can be considered corresponding
statutes.
e. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require proof of the actual identity of
the identifiable minor.
f. For purposes of this subsection, “visual depiction of a minor” includes any visual
depiction that has been created, adapted, or modified to give the appearance that an
identifiable minor is engaged in a prohibited sexual act or the simulation of a prohibited
sexual act. An “identifiable minor” is a person who was a minor at the time the visual
depiction was created, adapted, or modified, or whose image as a minor was used in creating,
adapting, or modifying the visual depiction and is recognizable as an actual person by the
person’s face, likeness, or other distinguishing features.
4. This section does not apply to law enforcement officers, court personnel, licensed
physicians, licensed psychologists, or attorneys in the performance of their official duties.
[C79, 81, §728.12]
83 Acts, ch 167, §4; 86 Acts, ch 1176, §1 – 3; 89 Acts, ch 263, §3; 2001 Acts, ch 17, §4; 2003
Acts, ch 65, §1, 2; 2012 Acts, ch 1057, §7, 8; 2023 Acts, ch 74, §2; 2024 Acts, ch 1015, §1; 2025
Acts, ch 50, §1
Referred to in §229A.2, 232.68, 232E.1, 236A.2, 236A.18, 692A.102, 802.2B, 901A.1, 902.12, 903B.1, 903B.2, 903B.10, 907.3, 915.36,
915.37, 915.100
Subsection 3, paragraph b amended
\n
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
100
cases (
27 in the last 5 years), 1982–2026 · leading case:
State v. Robinson, 618 N.W.2d 306 (Iowa 2000).
State v. Robinson, 618 N.W.2d 306 (Iowa 2000).
· cites it 100× “Iowa Code § 728.12 (3). In essence, this statute prohibits the purchase and possession of child pornography.”
State of Iowa v. Brent Michael Romer, 832 N.W.2d 169 (Iowa 2013).
· cites it 16× “1188, § 1 (codified at Iowa Code § 728.12 (1) (1979)).7 The crime of sexual exploitation of a minor is aimed at the creation, dissemination, and possession of child pornography, rather than merely possessing obscene materials.”
State v. Muhlenbruch, 728 N.W.2d 212 (Iowa 2007).
· cites it 22× “In this appeal, we must decide if Iowa Code section 728.12(3) (2003) creates a single criminal offense for possession of a computer that contains pornographic depictions of minors, regardless of the number of images, or whether the statute establishes a separate offense for each…”
State v. Gilmour, 522 N.W.2d 595 (Iowa 1994).
· cites it 35× “Iowa Code § 728.12 (1). Gilmour suggests that there are two reasonable interpretations of section 728.”
Commonwealth v. Davidson, 938 A.2d 198 (Pa. 2007).
· cites it 4× “10 However, the phrase *25 “prohibited sexual act” has only been constitutionally challenged under the Iowa statute, Iowa Code § 728.12 . Specifically, as to possession, the Iowa statute provides in pertinent part: It shall be unlawful to knowingly purchase or possess a…”
Kris Kolzow v. State of Iowa, 813 N.W.2d 731 (Iowa 2012).
· cites it 6× “2, or section 728.12 shall also be sentenced, in addition to any other punishment provided by law, to a special sentence committing the person into the custody of the director of the Iowa department of corrections for a period of ten years, with eligibility for parole as…”
New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747 (1982).
· cites it 2× “Code § 26-9943a(b) (1978); Idaho Code § 44-1306 (1977); Iowa Code § 728.12 (1981); Kan. Stat. Ann.”
State v. Hunter, 550 N.W.2d 460 (Iowa 1996).
· cites it 7× “See Iowa Code §§ 728.12 (1), 728.1(6)(g) (1993).”
State v. Wade, 757 N.W.2d 618 (Iowa 2008).
· cites it 4× “2 (incest), or section 728.12 (sexual exploitation of a minor) to the special sentence.”
State of Iowa v. Sean Neal Delacy, 907 N.W.2d 154 (Iowa Ct. App. 2017).
· cites it 8× “See Iowa Code § 728.12 (1). 3 . Delacy also asserts on appeal the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion in arrest of judgment.”
United States v. Malloy, 568 F.3d 166 (4th Cir. 2009).
· cites it 3× “The Eighth and Eleventh Circuits have ruled to the contrary, holding that no mistake of age defense is necessary in statutes prohibiting the production of child pornography.”
State v. Hall, 740 N.W.2d 200 (Iowa Ct. App. 2007).
· cites it 6× “He was charged with five counts of exploitation of a minor in violation of Iowa Code section 728.12(3) (2005). 1 On November 22, 2006, he pled guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor.”
— Iowa Code § 728.12(1) — 25 cases
State of Iowa v. Brent Michael Romer, 832 N.W.2d 169 (Iowa 2013).
“1188, § 1 (codified at Iowa Code § 728.12 (1) (1979)).7 The crime of sexual exploitation of a minor is aimed at the creation, dissemination, and possession of child pornography, rather than merely possessing obscene materials.”
State v. Gilmour, 522 N.W.2d 595 (Iowa 1994).
“Iowa Code § 728.12 (1). Gilmour suggests that there are two reasonable interpretations of section 728.”
State v. Robinson, 618 N.W.2d 306 (Iowa 2000).
“Iowa Code § 728.12 (3). In essence, this statute prohibits the purchase and possession of child pornography.”
State of Iowa v. Sean Neal Delacy, 907 N.W.2d 154 (Iowa Ct. App. 2017).
“See Iowa Code § 728.12 (1). 3 . Delacy also asserts on appeal the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion in arrest of judgment.”
— Iowa Code § 728.12(2) — 4 cases
State v. Gilmour, 522 N.W.2d 595 (Iowa 1994).
“Iowa Code § 728.12 (1). Gilmour suggests that there are two reasonable interpretations of section 728.”
— Iowa Code § 728.12(3) — 27 cases
State v. Robinson, 618 N.W.2d 306 (Iowa 2000).
“Iowa Code § 728.12 (3). In essence, this statute prohibits the purchase and possession of child pornography.”
State v. Muhlenbruch, 728 N.W.2d 212 (Iowa 2007).
“In this appeal, we must decide if Iowa Code section 728.12(3) (2003) creates a single criminal offense for possession of a computer that contains pornographic depictions of minors, regardless of the number of images, or whether the statute establishes a separate offense for each…”
State v. Hall, 740 N.W.2d 200 (Iowa Ct. App. 2007).
“He was charged with five counts of exploitation of a minor in violation of Iowa Code section 728.12(3) (2005). 1 On November 22, 2006, he pled guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor.”
State of Iowa v. Sean Neal Delacy, 907 N.W.2d 154 (Iowa Ct. App. 2017).
“See Iowa Code § 728.12 (1). 3 . Delacy also asserts on appeal the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion in arrest of judgment.”
— Iowa Code § 728.12(4) — 2 cases
— Iowa Code § 728.12(l) — 1 case
State v. Robinson, 618 N.W.2d 306 (Iowa 2000).
“Iowa Code § 728.12 (3). In essence, this statute prohibits the purchase and possession of child pornography.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.