PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — Florida lawmakers are considering whether to strike the term “child pornography” from state law — replacing it with “child sexual-abuse material,” or CSAM.
The push for change comes as a South Florida man faces more than two dozen felony charges for possessing and uploading explicit videos of children — files detectives say he called his “drug.”
The arrest
According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office affidavit, 28-year-old Tyler Smith faces more than 20 felony counts of possessing and viewing child sexual abuse material.
The investigation began in January after Google submitted a cyber tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, flagging 27 videos that allegedly depicted child sexual abuse — some involving victims as young as two years old.
Detectives with the sheriff’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force traced the uploads to an email account linked to Smith. Subpoenas to Google, Verizon, and Comcast revealed the files were shared from a rehab facility in Palm Springs, where Smith was previously in treatment, and later from a sober-living home in Broward County.
When investigators confronted him, they say Smith confessed to uploading the material and referred to it as his “drug.”
Smith appeared before a judge Thursday and was ordered held on $270,000 bond at the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center.
The language debate
The arrest comes as Florida lawmakers debate how these crimes should be defined under state law.
Under current statute, Smith is charged with possession of child pornography — a term one Jacksonville lawmaker wants to change.
State Rep. Jessica Baker, R-Jacksonville, filed House Bill 245, known as the Child Pornography Terminology bill. It would replace the phrase child pornography with child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in all 56 sections of Florida law where the outdated term appears.
Baker, a former prosecutor, says the word pornography is misleading. In other reports, she’s mentioned how the term pornography implies a lawful form of adult entertainment, while any sexualized depiction or exploitation of a minor is a crime. It’s not pornography — it’s child sexual abuse material.
If passed and signed into law, the measure would take effect July 1, 2026.
Advocates say words matter
The push for change is supported by child protection advocates, including the Child Rescue Coalition, a Boca Raton-based nonprofit that develops technology to help law enforcement identify and arrest online predators.
Adam Levine, the group’s vice president of programs, said changing the terminology helps shift public understanding of what’s truly being documented.
“The term ‘child pornography’ implies consent — and that’s just not what this is,” Levine said. “It’s abuse, and it’s the recording of that abuse.”
He said the phrase also diminishes the trauma victims endure.
“Imagine the most difficult moment of your life being videotaped and put on the internet for strangers to see,” Levine said. “These are human crimes that affect victims for life.”
The Child Rescue Coalition reports its technology has helped law enforcement agencies make more than 17,000 arrests worldwide and rescue thousands of children from ongoing exploitation.
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What’s next
Smith faces multiple counts under Florida Statute 827.071(5)(a) — each a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
He remains in the Palm Beach County Jail.
If lawmakers approve the bill, Florida would join at least five other states — including Utah, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Texas — that have already adopted the term child sexual abuse material in law.
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