A. Any person knowingly receiving any pecuniary profit as a result of a child under the age of sixteen engaging in a prohibited sexual act with another is guilty of a second degree felony, unless the child is under the age of thirteen, in which event the person is guilty of a first degree felony.

B. Any person knowingly hiring or offering to hire a child under the age of sixteen to engage in any prohibited sexual act is guilty of a second degree felony.

C. Any parent, legal guardian or person having custody or control of a child under sixteen years of age who knowingly permits that child to engage in or to assist any other person to engage in any prohibited sexual act or simulation of such an act for the purpose of producing any visual or print medium depicting such an act is guilty of a third degree felony.

History: Laws 1984, ch. 92, § 4; 1989, ch. 170, § 2; 2015, ch. 13, § 2.

Cross references. — For the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, see Chapter 29, Article 11A NMSA 1978.

For abandonment or abuse of child, see 30-6-1 NMSA 1978.

For enticement of child, see 30-9-1 NMSA 1978.

For criminal sexual contact of a minor, see 30-9-13 NMSA 1978.

For sentencing for noncapital felonies, see 31-18-15 NMSA 1978.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, amended the Sexual Exploitation of Children Act by revising the age limitation so that knowingly hiring or offering to hire a child under the age of sixteen to engage in any prohibited sexual act is a second degree felony; deleted former Subsection B, which made it a second degree felony to hire or offer to hire a child over the age of thirteen and under the age of sixteen to engage in any prohibited sexual act; and added new Subsection B making it a second degree felony to knowingly hire or offer to hire a child under the age of sixteen to engage in any prohibited sexual act.

The 1989 amendment, effective June 16, 1989, in Subsection A inserted "knowingly" near the beginning of the subsection, and substituted "second" for "third" near the middle of the subsection and "first" for "second" near the end of the subsection; substituted "second" for "third" near the end of Subsection B; and substituted "third" for "fourth" near the end of Subsection C.