45-8-206. Public display or dissemination of obscene material to minors. (1) A person having custody, control, or supervision of any commercial establishment or newsstand may not knowingly or purposely:

(a) display obscene material to minors in such a way that minors, as a part of the invited public, will be able to view the material. However, a person is considered not to have displayed obscene material to minors if the material is kept behind devices commonly known as blinder racks so that the lower two-thirds of the material is not exposed to view or other reasonable efforts were made to prevent view of the material by a minor.

(b) sell, furnish, present, distribute, or otherwise disseminate to a minor or allow a minor to view, with or without consideration, any obscene material; or

(c) present to a minor or participate in presenting to a minor, with or without consideration, any performance that is obscene to minors.

(2) A person does not violate this section if:

(a) the person had reasonable cause to believe the minor was 18 years of age. "Reasonable cause" includes but is not limited to being shown a draft card, driver's license, marriage license, birth certificate, educational identification card, governmental identification card, tribal identification card, or other official or apparently official card or document purporting to establish that the person is 18 years of age;

(b) the person is, or is acting as, an employee of a bona fide public school, college, or university or a retail outlet affiliated with and serving the educational purposes of a school, college, or university and the material or performance was disseminated in accordance with policies approved by the governing body of the institution;

(c) the person is an officer, director, trustee, or employee of a public library or museum and the material or performance was acquired by the library or museum and disseminated in accordance with policies approved by the governing body of the library or museum;

(d) an exhibition in a state of nudity is for a bona fide scientific or medical purpose for a bona fide school, library, or museum; or

(e) the person is a retail sales clerk with no financial interest in the material or performance or in the establishment displaying or selling the material or performance.

History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 571, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 180, L. 2007.