Va. Code » Title 18.2. Crimes and Offenses Generally » Chapter 8. Crimes Involving Morals and Decency » Article 5. Obscenity and Related Offenses
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-374 (2026)

Production, publication, sale, possession, etc., of obscene items

✓ current as of May 2026
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It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to:

(1) Prepare any obscene item for the purposes of sale or distribution; or

(2) Print, copy, manufacture, produce, or reproduce any obscene item for purposes of sale or distribution; or

(3) Publish, sell, rent, lend, transport in intrastate commerce, or distribute or exhibit any obscene item, or offer to do any of these things; or

(4) Have in his possession with intent to sell, rent, lend, transport, or distribute any obscene item. Possession in public or in a public place of any obscene item as defined in this article shall be deemed prima facie evidence of a violation of this section.

For the purposes of this section, "distribute" shall mean delivery in person, by mail, messenger or by any other means by which obscene items as defined in this article may pass from one person, firm or corporation to another.

Code 1950, § 18.1-228; 1960, c. 233; 1962, c. 289; 1970, c. 204; 1975, cc. 14, 15.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 23 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1983–2025 · leading case: Slavek v. Hinkle, 359 F. Supp. 2d 473 (E.D. Va. 2005).
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Slavek v. Hinkle, 359 F. Supp. 2d 473 (E.D. Va. 2005). · cites it 6× “2d 84 (1984), which held that the unit of prosecution in the obscenity statute, § 18.2-374, is a single item proscribed by the statute, reasoning that § 18.”
Mason v. Commonwealth, 636 S.E.2d 480 (Va. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 4× “’ The gravamen of the offense is the sale of a single obscene item.” Id. at 395, 323 S.E.”
Educ. Books, Inc. v. Commonwealth, 323 S.E.2d 84 (Va. 1984). · cites it 6× “Tried by a jury under a nine-count indictment charging sales of obscene magazines in violation of Code §§ 18.2-374 1 and 18.2- *394 381, 2 Educational Books, Inc.”
Haas v. Trammell (In Re Trammell), 388 B.R. 182 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2008). · cites it 5× “2 (object sexual penetration), and Va.Code § 18.2-374 (contributing to the delinquency of a minor) (cumulatively, the “Charges”).”
Adam Toghill v. Harold Clarke, 877 F.3d 547 (4th Cir. 2017). · cites it 2× “Nor does the anti-sodomy statute serve as a predicate felony for § 18.”
Chapman v. Commonwealth, 697 S.E.2d 20 (Va. Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 2× “2d 84 (1984), which held that the permissible unit of prosecution for the sale of obscene items under Code § 18.2-374 was the number of each such item sold, this Court held in Mason that “the permissible unit of prosecution for possession of child pornography under [the statute]…”
Wall Distributors, Inc. v. City of Newport News, 323 S.E.2d 75 (Va. 1984). · cites it 4× “Code § 18.2-374(4) makes it unlawful for any person “knowingly” to “[h]ave in his possession with intent to sell.”
Educ. Books, Inc. v. Commonwealth, 349 S.E.2d 903 (Va. Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 2× “, was convicted on eight counts of knowingly possessing an obscene film with intent to rent in violation of Code § 18.2-374 and ordered to pay a fine of $80,000.”
State v. Smith, 373 S.E.2d 435 (N.C. 1988). · cites it 2× “magazine, ... picture." Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-373 (1988).”
Croatan Books, Inc. v. Com. of Va., 574 F. Supp. 880 (E.D. Va. 1983). · cites it 3× “Indeed, abstention, though not advanced by the other two defendants, affords a basis for dismissing the action as to them, also.”
United States v. Pryba, 674 F. Supp. 1504 (E.D. Va. 1987). · cites it 2× “23 The same is true of the Virginia analog, Va.Code Ann. § 18.2-374. 24 Both frame offenses in language that “conveys sufficiently definite warning as to the proscribed conduct when measured by common understanding and practices .”
Commonwealth v. Simone, 63 Va. Cir. 216 (Portsmouth Cir. Ct. 2003). · cites it 8× “The defendant was then convicted of nine sales in violation of Va. Code § 18.2-374. Id. at 394, 323 S.E.”
Show all 23 citing cases →
— Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-374(3) — 1 case
Kevin Lamont Newby v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2009).
— Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-374(4) — 1 case
Wall Distributors, Inc. v. City of Newport News, 323 S.E.2d 75 (Va. 1984). “Code § 18.2-374(4) makes it unlawful for any person “knowingly” to “[h]ave in his possession with intent to sell.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-374(B)(3) — 1 case
Slavek v. Hinkle, 359 F. Supp. 2d 473 (E.D. Va. 2005). “2d 84 (1984), which held that the unit of prosecution in the obscenity statute, § 18.2-374, is a single item proscribed by the statute, reasoning that § 18.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-374(C) — 1 case
Toghill v. Commonwealth (Va. 2015).
— Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-374(C)(3) — 1 case
Adam Toghill v. Harold Clarke, 877 F.3d 547 (4th Cir. 2017). “Nor does the anti-sodomy statute serve as a predicate felony for § 18.”
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