Florida Lawmakers Consider Updating Language on Child Exploitation Crimes
- October 30, 2025
Florida legislators are considering replacing the term “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse material (CSAM)” in state law – a change that better reflects the reality of these crimes as acts of abuse, not pornography.
The proposal comes as a Palm Beach County man faces more than 20 felony charges for possessing and uploading explicit videos of children, which investigators say he called his “drug.” The case began after Google flagged 27 videos to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, leading detectives to the suspect.
State Representative Jessica Baker (R–Jacksonville) filed House Bill 245, known as the Child Pornography Terminology Bill, to update 56 sections of Florida law. Baker, a former prosecutor, notes that “pornography” implies consent – something that can never exist when a child is exploited. If passed, the bill would take effect July 1, 2026.
Child Rescue Coalition supports this shift in terminology.
“The term ‘child pornography’ implies consent — and that’s just not what this is,” said Adam Levine, Child Rescue Coalition’s Vice President of Programs. “It’s abuse, and it’s the recording of that abuse.”
Child Rescue Coalition’s Technology has helped law enforcement make more than 17,000 arrests worldwide and rescue thousands of children from exploitation.
If approved, Florida would join several states – including Utah, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Texas – in adopting the term child sexual abuse material in law, reinforcing that words matter when protecting children.
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