![\"Florida](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Florida-Capitol-Florida-Legislature-Tallahassee-by-felixmizioznikov-via-iStock-for-WMNF-News.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAerial drone photo of the Florida State Capitol Building and museum. By felixmizioznikov via iStock for WMNF News circa 2023.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAerial drone photo of the Florida State Capitol Building and museum. By felixmizioznikov via iStock for WMNF News circa 2023.<\/p>\n
by Liv Caputo, Florida Phoenix<\/a> A Florida bill replacing all allusions to \u201cchild pornography\u201d in state statute with \u201cchild sexual abuse material\u201d unanimously passed its first committee test on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Filed by Rep. Jessica Baker, HB 245<\/a> argues that applying the legal term \u201cpornography\u201d to images of sexually battered children is inappropriate, because children cannot consent to sexual activity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe current term is misleading. It implies a lawful form of pornography when, in fact, any sexualized depiction of a minor is a crime, and we must call it what it truly is,\u201d Baker told the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, speaking during one of the legislature\u2019s six committee weeks.<\/p>\n Jacksonville House Republican Jessica Baker at the Capitol on April 12, 2023. (Photo by Mitch Perry\/Florida Phoenix)<\/p>\n \u201cUsing accurate terminology reinforces that this material is a serious crime against a child.\u201d<\/p>\n Baker\u2019s bill, which has an identical companion<\/a> in the Senate, would align Florida with Pennsylvania and Louisiana, which have already adopted similar language. Delaware and Texas will take up these measures during their 2026 legislative sessions.<\/p>\n The bill takes direction from the Justice Department, which in 2023 published<\/a> a memo noting that although the term \u201cchild pornography\u201d still appears in federal law, officials prefer to use \u201cchild sexual abuse material\u201d because it better reflects the crime, the Phoenix previously reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is only the latest Florida legislation addressing child sexual abuse. During the 2025 session, Florida Republicans added human trafficking of minors as a crime eligible for the death penalty, building off a 2023, first-in-the-nation law expanding the death penalty to child rapists. In 2024, the Legislature created punishments for \u201cgrooming\u201d children into sexual abuse.<\/p>\n The legislative session begins on Jan. 13.<\/p>\n Florida Phoenix<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aerial drone photo of the Florida State Capitol Building and museum. By felixmizioznikov via iStock for WMNF News…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,100,29,35406],"class_list":{"0":"post-57594","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-headlines","10":"tag-florida-legislature","11":"tag-florida-news","12":"tag-florida-phoenix"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
November 18, 2025<\/p>\n