# 119-s-3398: Stop Sextortion Act

119-s-3398, Stop Sextortion Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (R-IA); status introduced (as of 2026-08-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3398
- As of: 2026-08-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-3398
- Congress: 119
- Title: Stop Sextortion Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-12-09
- Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (R-IA)
- Cosponsors: 18
- Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-08-11

## Summary

**Criminalizes threats to share child sexual abuse material and raises penalties for sextortion.** It makes threatening to distribute sexual images of minors a punishable offense even when no actual image exists and increases prison terms when offenders use a minor’s explicit conduct to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause substantial emotional distress. - Victims and families: Expands protection from "sextortion" by outlawing threats to distribute visual depictions of minors whether the material exists or not. - Sentencing and defendants: Adds a 10-year maximum prison-term increase when the offense involves the knowing use of a minor’s sexually explicit conduct to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause substantial emotional distress. - Prosecutors and courts: Amends 18 U.S.C. 2252, 2252A, 1466A, and 2260A to cover threats, attempts, and conspiracies and to standardize the added penalties.

## Cosponsors (18)

- Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL), 2025-12-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] (D-MN), 2025-12-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (R-TX), 2025-12-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] (R-TN), 2025-12-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC] (R-SC), 2025-12-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (D-NH), 2025-12-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Moody, Ashley [R-FL] (R-FL), 2025-12-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA), 2026-01-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Britt, Katie Boyd [R-AL] (R-AL), 2026-02-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2026-03-09T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] (R-TX), 2026-02-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME] (I-ME), 2026-03-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (D-NV), 2026-03-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2026-03-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Slotkin, Elissa [D-MI] (D-MI), 2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (D-NY), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS] (R-MS), 2026-06-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV] (D-NV), 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Higher prison terms for sextortion: mixed, low. This bill would add extra prison time when someone uses child sexual images to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause serious emotional distress. If enacted, qualifying federal offenses under the listed statutes would have up to 10 more years added to the statutory maximum sentence. The change would…
- New federal sextortion threat crimes: mixed, low. This bill would make threatening to share visual sexual images or child pornography to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause serious emotional distress federal crimes. It would let prosecutors punish attempts or conspiracies to make those threats even if no images or videos actually existed. The cha…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former Senator for the State of Michigan.
- 119-sres-739: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of John Seymour, the late Senator for the State of California.
- 119-sres-723: A resolution honoring the life of Dirk Arthur Kempthorne, former United States Senator for the State of Idaho.
- 119-sres-585: A resolution honoring the life, achievements, and legacy of Ben Nighthorse Campbell.
- 119-sres-255: A resolution honoring the life, achievements, and legacy of former United States Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond of Missouri.

## Sources
- [119-s-3398 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3398)

## Related
- [119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1071)
- [119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former S…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-755)
- [119-sres-739: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of John Seymour, the late Senator for…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-739)
- [119-sres-723: A resolution honoring the life of Dirk Arthur Kempthorne, former United States…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-723)
- [119-sres-585: A resolution honoring the life, achievements, and legacy of Ben Nighthorse Camp…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-585)
- [119-sres-255: A resolution honoring the life, achievements, and legacy of former United State…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-255)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3398 (as of 2026-08-11).