Mass. Gen. Laws » Part IV Title I Chapter 272
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 29B (2026)

Dissemination of visual material of child in state of nudity or sexual conduct; punishment

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 29B. (a) Whoever, with lascivious intent, disseminates any visual material that contains a representation or reproduction of any posture or exhibition in a state of nudity involving the use of a child who is under eighteen years of age, knowing the contents of such visual material or having sufficient facts in his possession to have knowledge of the contents thereof, or has in his possession any such visual material knowing the contents or having sufficient facts in his possession to have knowledge of the contents thereof, with the intent to disseminate the same, shall be punished in the state prison for a term of not less than ten nor more than twenty years or by a fine of not less than ten thousand nor more than fifty thousand dollars or three times the monetary value of any economic gain derived from said dissemination, whichever is greater, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(b) Whoever with lascivious intent disseminates any visual material that contains a representation or reproduction of any act that depicts, describes, or represents sexual conduct participated or engaged in by a child who is under eighteen years of age, knowing the contents of such visual material or having sufficient facts in his possession to have knowledge of the contents thereof, or whoever has in his possession any such visual material knowing the contents or having sufficient facts in his possession to have knowledge of the contents thereof, with the intent to disseminate the same, shall be punished in the state prison for a term of not less than ten nor more than twenty years or by a fine of not less than ten thousand nor more than fifty thousand dollars or three times the monetary value of any economic gain derived from said dissemination, whichever is greater, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(c) For the purposes of this section, the determination whether the child in any visual material prohibited hereunder is under eighteen years of age may be made by the personal testimony of such child, by the testimony of a person who produced, processed, published, printed or manufactured such visual material that the child therein was known to him to be under eighteen years of age, by testimony of a person who observed the visual material, or by expert medical testimony as to the age of the child based upon the child's physical appearance, by inspection of the visual material, or by any other method authorized by any general or special law or by any applicable rule of evidence.

(d) In a prosecution under this section, a minor shall be deemed incapable of consenting to any conduct of the defendant for which said defendant is being prosecuted.

(e) Pursuant to this section, proof that dissemination of any visual material that contains a representation or reproduction of sexual conduct or of any posture or exhibition in a state of nudity involving the use of a child who is under eighteen years of age was for a bona fide scientific, medical, or educational purpose for a bona fide school, museum, or library may be considered as evidence of a lack of lascivious intent.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 25 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1996–2025 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Dingle, 898 N.E.2d 1 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Commonwealth v. Dingle, 898 N.E.2d 1 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008). · cites it 5× “A judge found the defendant guilty of three counts of possession with intent to distribute child pornography and two counts of distributing child pornography, all in violation of G. L. c. 272, § 29B. On appeal, the defendant argues that (1) the indictments were…”
Commonwealth v. Molina, 71 N.E.3d 117 (Mass. 2017). · cites it 3× “The defendant, Josué Molina, appeals from his child pornography convictions under G. L. c. 272, §§ 29B and 29C, on three grounds.”
Perry v. Commonwealth, 780 N.E.2d 53 (Mass. 2002). · cites it 3× “” G. L. c. 272, § 29B (a) and (b). We hold that it does, and affirm the order of the Superior Court denying Christopher Perry’s (defendant’s) motion to dismiss.”
Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Bd., 999 N.E.2d 478 (Mass. 2013). · cites it 2× “272, § 4B, and the dissemination of child pornography, G. L. c. 272, § 29B, within the ambit of the sex offender registration statute, see G.”
Commonwealth v. Casbohm, 116 N.E.3d 633 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018). · cites it 3× “" Compare G. L. c. 272, § 29B, prohibiting the dissemination of any visual material depicting a child in a state of nudity or engaged in sexual conduct, and G.”
Commonwealth v. Feliz, 119 N.E.3d 700 (Mass. 2019). “272, § 29C, and five counts of distribution of child pornography, in violation of G. L. c. 272, § 29B ( a ). He was arraigned in the Superior Court in April 2015, and placed on pretrial probation, with conditions, including reporting to a probation officer, in person, once per…”
Commonwealth v. Guzman, 14 N.E.3d 946 (Mass. 2014). · cites it 2× “272, § 29; two indictments charging dissemination of visual material depicting a child in a state of nudity or sexual conduct, G. L. c. 272, § 29B, a predicate offense under G.”
Commonwealth v. Martinez, 71 N.E.3d 105 (Mass. 2017). “A complaint issued charging the defendant with one count of distribution of material depicting a child engaged in a sexual act, in violation of G. L. c. 272, § 29B (b), and one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of G.”
Commonwealth v. Bean, 761 N.E.2d 501 (Mass. 2002). “Bean was acquitted on the second count of the indictment charging him with dissemination of materials depicting a minor in the nude in violation of G. L. c. 272, § 29B (a). The issue was properly preserved for appeal.”
Commonwealth v. Kenney, 874 N.E.2d 1089 (Mass. 2007). “In June, 2002, State police obtained a warrant to search the defendant’s apartment and to seize sexually explicit visual images, whether on paper or its equivalent or stored on electronic or magnetic media, any computer file text, any computer data file containing sexually…”
Commonwealth v. Wilbur W., a Juv., 95 N.E.3d 259 (Mass. 2018). “265, § 22A, and dissemination of child pornography, G. L. c. 272, § 29B. At the time of the alleged offenses, the juvenile was twelve years old and the victim was eight years old.”
Commonwealth v. Rex, 11 N.E.3d 1060 (Mass. 2014). “Contrast G. L. c. 272, § 29B (statute criminalizing dissemination of visual material of child in state of nudity or sexual conduct).”
Show all 25 citing cases →
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 29B(a) — 4 cases
Commonwealth v. Kelley, 12 Mass. L. Rptr. 717 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2001).
Commonwealth v. Gousie, 13 Mass. L. Rptr. 585 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2001).
Commonwealth v. Ruddock, 26 Mass. L. Rptr. 175 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2009).
Medeiros v. Ladoucher (D. Mass. 2021).
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 29B(b) — 3 cases
Commonwealth v. Kelley, 12 Mass. L. Rptr. 717 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2001).
Commonwealth v. Gousie, 13 Mass. L. Rptr. 585 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2001).
Commonwealth v. Ruddock, 26 Mass. L. Rptr. 175 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2009).
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.