Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005 (2026)
Offense of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly promote, employ, use, assist, transport or permit a minor to participate in the performance of, or in the production of, acts or material that includes the minor engaging in:
- (1) Sexual activity; or
- (2) Simulated sexual activity that is patently offensive.
- (b) A person violating subsection (a) may be charged in a separate count for each individual performance, image, picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture film, videocassette tape, or other pictorial representation.
- (c) In a prosecution under this section, the trier of fact may consider the title, text, visual representation, internet history, physical development of the person depicted, expert medical testimony, expert computer forensic testimony, and any other relevant evidence, in determining whether a person knowingly promoted, employed, used, assisted, transported or permitted a minor to participate in the performance of or in the production of acts or material for these purposes, or in determining whether the material or image otherwise represents or depicts that a participant is a minor.
- (d) A violation of this section is a Class B felony. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting prosecution for any other sexual offense under this chapter, nor shall a joint conviction under this section and any other related sexual offense, even if arising out of the same conduct, be construed as limiting any applicable punishment, including consecutive sentencing under § 40-35-115, or the enhancement of sentence under § 40-35-114.
- (e) In a prosecution under this section, the state is not required to prove the actual identity or age of the minor.
- (f) A person is subject to prosecution in this state under this section for any conduct that originates in this state, or for any conduct that originates by a person located outside this state, where the person promoted, employed, assisted, transported or permitted a minor to engage in the performance of, or production of, acts or material within this state.
- (g) It shall not be a defense to a violation of subsection (a) that the minor victim of the offense consented to the conduct that constituted the offense.
Amended by 2013 Tenn. Acts, ch. 350,s 4, eff. 7/1/2013.
Acts 1990, ch. 1092, § 7; 2005, ch. 496, § 4.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 65
cases (9 in the last 5 years), 1995–2025 · leading case: State of Tennessee v. Thomas Whited, 506 S.W.3d 416 (Tenn. 2016).
State of Tennessee v. Thomas Whited, 506 S.W.3d 416 (Tenn. 2016). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005 . The trial judge read all of the statutory definitions of “sexual activity,” including the applicable definition, which is the “lascivious exhibition of the female breast or the genitals, buttocks, anus or pubic or rectal area of any person.”
VanArsdall v. State, 919 S.W.2d 626 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1995). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-1005 (1991 Repl.).”
State of Tennessee v. Barry H. Hogg, 448 S.W.3d 877 (Tenn. 2014). “The statute reads, in pertinent part: “A person violating subsection (a) may be charged in a separate count for each individual performance, image, picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture film, videocassette tape, or other pictorial representation.”
State v. Schiefelbein, 230 S.W.3d 88 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2007). “§ 39-17-1005 (“It is unlawful for a person to knowingly promote, employ, use, assist, transport or permit a minor to participate in the performance or in the production of material which includes the minor engaging in: (1) Sexual activity; or (2) Simulated sexual activity that…”
State v. Sharp, 327 S.W.3d 704 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010). “A defendant convicted under Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-17-1005 at this time is not eligible for probation.”
State v. Davis, 185 S.W.3d 338 (Tenn. 2006). “§ 39-13-522 (2003) (rape of a child); Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-1005 (2003) (aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor).”
State v. Dycus, 456 S.W.3d 918 (Tenn. 2014). “§ 39-17-1005 (2010 & 2014); rape, see id.”
United States v. Thomas Schopp, 938 F.3d 1053 (9th Cir. 2019). “3 ; Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005 ; Utah Code Ann.”
Backpage.Com, LLC v. Cooper, 939 F. Supp. 2d 805 (M.D. Tenn. 2013). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005 (f) (West 2012).”
State of Tennessee v. Westley A. Albright, 564 S.W.3d 809 (Tenn. 2018). “…(7) Statutory rape, pursuant to § 39-13-506; (8) Especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, pursuant to § 39-17-1005; (9) Sexual activity involving a minor, pursuant to § 39-13-529; (10) Trafficking for commercial sex acts, pursuant to § 39-13-309; (11)…”
State v. Michael R., 346 Conn. 432 (Conn. 2023). “30 Unlike the child pornography statutes at issue in Whited and Sawyer, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005 (a) (1) (2012) and General Statutes §§ 53a- 193 (14) (E) and 53a-196e, respectively, which require the depiction to constitute a ‘‘lascivious exhibition,’’ the obscene…”
State of Tennessee v. Lavar Jernigan (Tenn. Crim. App. 2017). “See T.C.A. § 39-17-1005 (2010) (amended 2013).”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005(a) — 9 cases
State v. Sharp, 327 S.W.3d 704 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010). “A defendant convicted under Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-17-1005 at this time is not eligible for probation.”
State of Tennessee v. Thomas Whited, 506 S.W.3d 416 (Tenn. 2016). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005 . The trial judge read all of the statutory definitions of “sexual activity,” including the applicable definition, which is the “lascivious exhibition of the female breast or the genitals, buttocks, anus or pubic or rectal area of any person.”
VanArsdall v. State, 919 S.W.2d 626 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1995). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-1005 (1991 Repl.).”
State of Tennessee v. Stephen Douglas Smith (Tenn. Crim. App. 2018).
State of Tennessee v. Adonis Donnell Holbrooks (Tenn. Crim. App. 2020).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005(a)(1) — 6 cases
State of Tennessee v. Thomas Whited, 506 S.W.3d 416 (Tenn. 2016). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005 . The trial judge read all of the statutory definitions of “sexual activity,” including the applicable definition, which is the “lascivious exhibition of the female breast or the genitals, buttocks, anus or pubic or rectal area of any person.”
State of Tennessee v. Barry H. Hogg, 448 S.W.3d 877 (Tenn. 2014). “The statute reads, in pertinent part: “A person violating subsection (a) may be charged in a separate count for each individual performance, image, picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture film, videocassette tape, or other pictorial representation.”
State of Tennessee v. Lavar Jernigan (Tenn. Crim. App. 2017). “See T.C.A. § 39-17-1005 (2010) (amended 2013).”
State of Tennessee v. John David Smartt (Tenn. Crim. App. 2017).
State of Tennessee v. Tolbert Cates Kail (Tenn. Crim. App. 2013).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005(a)(l) — 1 case
State of Tennessee v. Thomas Whited, 506 S.W.3d 416 (Tenn. 2016). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005 . The trial judge read all of the statutory definitions of “sexual activity,” including the applicable definition, which is the “lascivious exhibition of the female breast or the genitals, buttocks, anus or pubic or rectal area of any person.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005(b) — 1 case
State of Tennessee v. Barry H. Hogg, 448 S.W.3d 877 (Tenn. 2014). “The statute reads, in pertinent part: “A person violating subsection (a) may be charged in a separate count for each individual performance, image, picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture film, videocassette tape, or other pictorial representation.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005(c) — 2 cases
State of Tennessee v. Roland R. Smith (Tenn. Crim. App. 2005).
State of Tennessee v. Guadalupe Steven Mendez (Tenn. Crim. App. 2003).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1005(d) — 2 cases
State of Tennessee v. Lavar Jernigan (Tenn. Crim. App. 2017). “See T.C.A. § 39-17-1005 (2010) (amended 2013).”
State of Tennessee v. Barry H. Hogg (Tenn. Crim. App. 2013).
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.