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To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit coercing protected adults to send or otherwise transmit an intimate visual depiction, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill would create a new federal crime prohibiting the coercion of vulnerable adults into sending or transmitting intimate images with the intent to cause them harm. The law would apply to adults age 18 and older who are unable to protect themselves from exploitation due to specified cognitive or developmental disabilities including autism, intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, dementia, and schizophrenia. Violations would be punishable by up to one year in prison for a first offense and up to two years for subsequent offenses. The law would apply to conduct using mail or interstate or foreign commerce.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
8 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- Feb 25, 2026 Introduced in House
- Feb 25, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 25, 2026
Ms. Stevens (for herself and Mrs. Dingell) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit coercing protected adults to send or otherwise transmit an intimate visual depiction, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Justice for Allie Act”.
SEC. 2. SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF PROTECTED ADULTS.
(a) In General.—Chapter 109A of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “Sec. 2245A. Sexual exploitation of protected adults
“(a) Offense.—Whoever, using the mail or any facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any protected adult to send or otherwise transmit an intimate visual depiction (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (15 U.S.C. 6851)) with the intent to harm such protected adult, or attempts to do so—
“(1) in the case of a first offense under this section, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both; or
“(2) in the case of a second or subsequent offense under this section, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both.
“(b) Definition.—In this section:
“(1) The term ‘protected adult’ means an individual who is 18 years of age or older and who is unable to protect themselves from abuse, neglect, or exploitation at the time of offense, due to one or more of the following:
“(A) Autism spectrum disorder (as such term is defined in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as of the date of the commission of the offense).
“(B) Intellectual developmental disorder (as such term is defined in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as of the date of the commission of the offense) or an intellectual disability (as such term is defined in the edition of the International Classification of Diseases most recently adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services, as of the date of the commission of the offense).
“(C) Cerebral palsy (as such term is defined in the edition of the International Classification of Diseases most recently adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services, as of the date of the commission of the offense).
“(D) Down syndrome (as such term is defined in the edition of the International Classification of Diseases most recently adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services, as of the date of the commission of the offense).
“(E) Major neurocognitive disorder (as such term is defined in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as of the date of the commission of the offense).
“(F) Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease (as such terms are defined in the edition of the International Classification of Diseases most recently adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services, as of the date of the commission of the offense).
“(G) Schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder (as such term is defined in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as of the date of the commission of the offense).
“(2) The term ‘harm’ means any harm, whether physical, psychological, financial, or reputational harm.”.
(b) Clerical Amendment.—The table of sections for chapter 109A of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item related to section 2245 the following:
“2245A. Sexual exploitation of protected adults.”. <all>
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