N.Y. Laws » CHAPTER Penal / PART Specific Offenses / TITLE Offenses Against Public Health and Morals / ARTICLE Obscenity and Related Offenses
New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Penal Law § 235.20 (2026)

Disseminating indecent material to minors; definitions of terms

✓ current as of May 2026
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§ 235.20  Disseminating indecent material to minors; definitions of
terms.
  The following definitions are applicable to sections 235.21, 235.22,
235.23 and 235.24 of this article:
  1.  "Minor" means any person less than seventeen years old.
  2.  "Nudity" means the showing of the human male or female genitals,
pubic area or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, or the
showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of
any portion thereof below the top of the nipple, or the depiction of
covered male genitals in a discernably turgid state.
  3.  "Sexual conduct" means acts of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual
intercourse, or physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed
genitals, pubic area, buttocks or, if such person be a female, breast.
  4.  "Sexual excitement" means the condition of human male or female
genitals when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.
  5.  "Sado-masochistic abuse" means flagellation or torture by or upon
a person clad in undergarments, a mask or bizarre costume, or the
condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise physically restrained on
the part of one so clothed.
  6.  "Harmful to minors" means that quality of any description or
representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual
excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse, when it:
  (a)  Considered as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest in sex of
minors; and
  (b)  Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult
community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for
minors; and
  (c)  Considered as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic,
political and scientific value for minors.
  7. The term "access software" means software (including client or
server software) or enabling tools that do not create or provide the
content of the communication but that allow a user to do any one or more
of the following:
  (a) filter, screen, allow or disallow content;
  (b) pick, choose, analyze or digest content; or
  (c) transmit, receive, display, forward, cache, search, subset,
organize, reorganize or translate content.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14 cases, 1973–2019 · leading case: People v. Jackson, 832 N.E.2d 418 (Ill. App. Ct. 2005).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
People v. Jackson, 832 N.E.2d 418 (Ill. App. Ct. 2005). · cites it 4× “Penal Law § 484 -h (1909) (see N.Y. Penal Law § 235.20 (1965)). Material was considered "`harmful to minors'" if it "`(i) predominantly appeals to the prurient, shameful or morbid interest of minors, and (ii) is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community…”
People v. Foley, 731 N.E.2d 123 (NY 2000). · cites it 3× “The communication must be “harmful to *677 minors” as defined by Penal Law § 235.20 (6). 1 Second, the statute requires that an individual must “[b]y means of such communication” importune, invite or induce the minor to engage in sexual activity for his or her benefit (Penal Law…”
Am. Libraries Ass'n v. Pataki, 969 F. Supp. 160 (S.D.N.Y. 1997). · cites it 2× “N.Y. Penal Law § 235.20 (6). The statute provides six defenses to liability.”
Hatch v. Superior Court, 94 Cal. Rptr. 2d 453 (Cal. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 2× “2, subdivision (b), the New York statute (1) defined the prohibited “harmful to minors” content of the transmission using the Miller standards (compare N.Y. Pen. Law § 235.20 , subd. 6 with Pen.”
People v. Kozlow, 870 N.E.2d 118 (NY 2007). · cites it 2× “" (Penal Law § 235.20 [6].) [4] The Appellate Division cited Foley ( 94 NY2d at 681 ) in support of its holding.”
People v. Foley, 257 A.D.2d 243 (N.Y. App. Div. 1999). · cites it 4× “sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse, when it: “(a) Considered as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest in sex of minors; and “(b) Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for minors; and “(c)…”
People v. Foley, 258 A.D.2d 243 (N.Y. App. Div. 1999). · cites it 4× “sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse, when it: “(a) Considered as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest in sex of minors; and “(b) Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for minors; and “(c)…”
State v. Maynard, 910 P.2d 1115 (Or. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 2× “…167.060, 167.065(1)(a) with, e.g., Cal Penal Code §§ 313, 313.1 (West Supp 1995), DC Code Ann § 22-2001(b) (1989), NY Penal Law §§ 235.20(6), 235.21 (McKinney 1989), Utah Code Ann §§ 76-10-1201(11), 76-10-1206 (1995), Wash Rev Code Ann §§ 9.68.050(2), 9.68.060(3)(d) (West…”
People v. Barrows, 177 Misc. 2d 712 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1998). · cites it 2× “Unlike the CDA, however, which is not limited to materials that are “obscene” and therefore outside the protection of the First Amendment, New York’s Penal Law § 235.20 (6) does define what is “harmful to minors” as: “[T]hat quality of any description or representation, in…”
People v. Pinkoski, 300 A.D.2d 834 (N.Y. App. Div. 2002). “Penal Law article 235, concerning obscenity and related offenses, defines “sexual conduct” as “acts of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person’s clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks or, if such person be a female, breast”…”
Caplin v. Oak, 356 F. Supp. 1250 (S.D.N.Y. 1973). “Rather they attack the validity of the regulation on its face and ask that the Court declare that no literature be banned as obscene unless it “(i) predominantly appeals to the prurient, shameful or morbid interest of minors, and (ii) is patently offensive to prevailing…”
People v. Gallicchio, 189 Misc. 2d 182 (2001). “The statutory definition of what is deemed “harmful to minors” is “that quality of any description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse” (Penal Law § 235.20 [6] [emphasis provided]).”
Show all 14 citing cases →
— N.Y. Penal Law § 235.20(6) — 1 case
State v. Maynard, 910 P.2d 1115 (Or. Ct. App. 1996). “…167.060, 167.065(1)(a) with, e.g., Cal Penal Code §§ 313, 313.1 (West Supp 1995), DC Code Ann § 22-2001(b) (1989), NY Penal Law §§ 235.20(6), 235.21 (McKinney 1989), Utah Code Ann §§ 76-10-1201(11), 76-10-1206 (1995), Wash Rev Code Ann §§ 9.68.050(2), 9.68.060(3)(d) (West…”
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