# West Virginia SB 198: Prohibiting creation, production, distribution, or possession of artificially generated child pornography West Virginia SB 198, Prohibiting creation, production, distribution, or possession of artificially generated child pornography, is a 2025 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Amy Grady (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-08-08 (Chapter 80, Acts, Regular Session, 2025) (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-SB198-2025rs - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: West Virginia SB 198 - State: West Virginia - Session: 2025 Regular Session - Title: Prohibiting creation, production, distribution, or possession of artificially generated child pornography - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-02-12 - Last action: 2025-08-08, Chapter 80, Acts, Regular Session, 2025 - Sponsor: Amy Grady (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: §61-8-28a, §61-8C-1, §61-8C-2, §61-8C-3, §61-8C-3a, §61-8C-3b, §61-8C-3c - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 3 (165 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 6 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Criminal penalties for sexual images involving children: mixed, medium. Creating covered images of children under 18 engaged in sexually explicit conduct is a felony, including images made or changed with artificial intelligence. The law also covers using children to make this material and parents or guardians who create or facilitate it. The penalty is up to 10 years… - Penalties for keeping or sharing child pornography: mixed, medium. Knowingly possessing, sharing, showing, transporting, or electronically accessing child pornography to view it is a felony, including computer-generated material. For 50 images or fewer, penalties are two to five years in prison, a fine up to $5,000, or both. For 51–299 images, penalties are three… - Penalties for sharing fake intimate images: mixed, medium. Beginning July 9, 2025, West Virginia bans knowingly and intentionally sharing, causing disclosure of, or threatening to share fabricated intimate images to harm someone. Covered motives include harassment, intimidation, threats, humiliation, embarrassment, or coercion. The images must depict an id… - Juvenile penalties and defenses for sexual images: mixed, low. Minors who intentionally possess, create, or share covered sexual images face delinquency proceedings under the juvenile code. Covered material includes computer-generated child pornography and images of another minor posing in an inappropriate sexual manner. The rule also covers minors sharing suc… - Privacy limits for child-image court evidence: mixed, low. Covered prohibited images may not be published to the public at any time, while lawful investigations and prosecutions remain allowed. Official-duty exceptions let police, contracted investigators, prosecutors, judges, magistrates, jurors, court-role attorneys, and their support staff possess or di… - Workers must report suspected child sexual images: mixed, low. People who see suspected sexual images of minors during work or business must report them immediately, unless an official-duty exception applies. Reports go to local or state police or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline. Reports should include the owner’s name and… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Amy Grady (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Vince Deeds (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-10 | Senate | Senate concurred in House amendments and passed bill (Roll No. 449) | pass | 33 | 0 | | | 2025-04-08 | House | Passed House (Roll No. 414) | pass | 99 | 0 | | | 2025-03-03 | Senate | Passed Senate (Roll No. 51) | pass | 33 | 0 | | ## Actions (42) - 2025-08-08: Chapter 80, Acts, Regular Session, 2025 (Senate) - 2025-04-24: Approved by Governor 4/24/2025 (Senate) - 2025-04-14: To Governor 4/14/2025 (Senate) - 2025-04-12: To Governor 4/14/2025 - Senate Journal (Senate) - 2025-04-12: To Governor 4/14/2025 - House Journal (House) - 2025-04-12: Approved by Governor 4/24/2025 - Senate Journal (Senate) - 2025-04-12: Approved by Governor 4/24/2025 - House Journal (House) - 2025-04-10: House Message received (Senate) - 2025-04-10: Senate concurred in House amendments and passed bill (Roll No. 449) (Senate) - 2025-04-10: Communicated to House (Senate) - 2025-04-10: Completed legislative action (Senate) - 2025-04-08: On 3rd reading, Special Calendar (House) - 2025-04-08: Read 3rd time (House) - 2025-04-08: Passed House (Roll No. 414) (House) - 2025-04-08: Title amendment adopted (Voice vote) (House) - 2025-04-08: Communicated to Senate (House) - 2025-04-07: On 2nd reading, Special Calendar (House) - 2025-04-07: Read 2nd time (House) - 2025-04-07: Amendment reported by the Clerk (House) - 2025-04-07: Amendment adopted (Voice vote) (House) - 2025-04-07: Committee amendment adopted (Voice vote) (House) - 2025-04-04: On 1st reading, Special Calendar (House) - 2025-04-04: Read 1st time (House) - 2025-04-03: With amendment, do pass (House) - 2025-03-24: Markup Discussion (House) - 2025-03-04: House received Senate message (House) - 2025-03-04: Introduced in House (House) - 2025-03-04: To Judiciary (House) - 2025-03-04: To House Judiciary (House) - 2025-03-03: On 3rd reading (Senate) - 2025-03-03: Read 3rd time (Senate) - 2025-03-03: Passed Senate (Roll No. 51) (Senate) - 2025-03-03: Ordered to House (Senate) - 2025-02-28: On 2nd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-28: Read 2nd time (Senate) - 2025-02-27: On 1st reading (Senate) - 2025-02-27: Read 1st time (Senate) - 2025-02-26: Committee substitute reported (Senate) - 2025-02-12: Filed for introduction (Senate) - 2025-02-12: To Judiciary (Senate) - 2025-02-12: Introduced in Senate (Senate) - 2025-02-12: To Judiciary (Senate) ## Bill text - Committee Substitute: [HTML](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 sub1.htm), [PDF](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 sub1.pdf) - Enrolled: [HTML](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 sub1 enr.htm), [PDF](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 sub1 enr.pdf) - Introduced Version: [HTML](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 intr.htm), [PDF](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 intr.pdf) ## Related bills - HB 2451: To facilitate the creation of home-based businesses (signed) - SB 464: Creating license plate for recipients of Medal of Valor (signed) - SB 196: Lauren's Law (signed) - SB 138: Enhancing penalties for fleeing officer (signed) - SB 270: Declaring sale and manufacture of firearms essential business during declared emergency (signed) - SB 617: Discouraging gang activity (signed) ## Sources - [Committee Substitute (HTML)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 sub1.htm) - [Committee Substitute (PDF)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 sub1.pdf) - [Enrolled (HTML)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 sub1 enr.htm) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 sub1 enr.pdf) - [Introduced Version (HTML)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 intr.htm) - [Introduced Version (PDF)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb198 intr.pdf) ## Related - [HB 2451: To facilitate the creation of home-based businesses](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB2451-2025rs) - [SB 464: Creating license plate for recipients of Medal of Valor](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-SB464-2025rs) - [SB 196: Lauren's Law](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-SB196-2025rs) - [SB 138: Enhancing penalties for fleeing officer](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-SB138-2025rs) - [SB 270: Declaring sale and manufacture of firearms essential business during declared e…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-SB270-2025rs) - [SB 617: Discouraging gang activity](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-SB617-2025rs) - [West Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/west-virginia/bills) - [West Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/west-virginia) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-SB198-2025rs (as of 2026-10-17).