Florida Senate - 2025                             CS for SB 1084
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senator Martin
       
       
       
       
       
       591-02564-25                                          20251084c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to sexual cyberharassment; amending s.
    3         784.049, F.S.; providing and revising legislative
    4         findings and definitions; providing criminal penalties
    5         for persons who sexually cyberharass other persons
    6         with specified intent or purpose; providing criminal
    7         penalties for persons who commit the offense of sexual
    8         cyberharassment with a specified intent or purpose;
    9         providing enhanced criminal penalties for second or
   10         subsequent violations; authorizing an aggrieved person
   11         to initiate a civil action to recover punitive
   12         damages; making technical changes; amending s. 775.15,
   13         F.S.; providing time limitations for commencing
   14         prosecution for violations of sexual cyberharassment;
   15         providing an effective date.
   16          
   17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   18  
   19         Section 1. Present paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) of
   20  subsection (1) of section 784.049, Florida Statutes, are
   21  redesignated as paragraphs (e), (f), and (g), respectively,
   22  present subsections (4) through (7) are redesignated as
   23  subsections (5) through (8), respectively, a new paragraph (d)
   24  is added to subsection (1) and a new subsection (4) is added to
   25  that section, and paragraph (a) of subsection (1), subsections
   26  (2) and (3), and present subsection (5) of that section are
   27  amended, to read:
   28         784.049 Sexual cyberharassment.—
   29         (1) The Legislature finds that:
   30         (a) A person depicted in a sexually explicit image taken
   31  with the person’s consent retains may retain a reasonable
   32  expectation that the image will remain private despite sharing
   33  the image with another person, such as an intimate partner.
   34         (d)A person depicted in a digitally forged intimate image
   35  created by or with the consent of the depicted person retains a
   36  reasonable expectation of privacy despite sharing the image with
   37  another person.
   38         (2) As used in this section, the term:
   39         (a) “Digitally forged intimate image” means an image that
   40  has been created, altered, adopted, or modified by electronic,
   41  mechanical, or other computer-generated means; depicts nudity of
   42  an identifiable individual as defined in s. 847.001; and appears
   43  to a reasonable person to be indistinguishable from an authentic
   44  visual depiction of the individual, regardless of whether the
   45  visual depiction indicates, through a label or some other form
   46  of information published with the visual depiction, that the
   47  visual depiction is not authentic.
   48         (b) “Image” includes, but is not limited to, any
   49  photograph, picture, motion picture, film, video, or
   50  representation.
   51         (c)“Nudity” means the showing of the human male or female
   52  genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a fully opaque
   53  covering; the showing of the female breast with less than a
   54  fully opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of
   55  the nipple; or the depiction of covered male genitals in a
   56  discernibly turgid state. A mother’s breastfeeding of her baby
   57  does not, under any circumstance, constitute nudity, regardless
   58  of whether the nipple is covered during or incidental to
   59  feeding.
   60         (d)(b) “Personal identification information” means any
   61  information that identifies an individual, and includes, but is
   62  not limited to, any name, postal or electronic mail address,
   63  telephone number, social security number, date of birth, or any
   64  unique physical representation.
   65         (e)(c) “Sexually cyberharass” means to publish to an
   66  Internet website or disseminate through electronic means to
   67  another person a sexually explicit image of a person that
   68  contains or conveys the personal identification information of
   69  the depicted person without the depicted person’s consent,
   70  contrary to the depicted person’s reasonable expectation that
   71  the image would remain private, for no legitimate purpose, with
   72  the intent of causing substantial emotional distress to the
   73  depicted person. Evidence that the depicted person sent a
   74  sexually explicit image to another person does not, on its own,
   75  remove his or her reasonable expectation of privacy for that
   76  image. Absent affirmative consent to disseminate, the depicted
   77  person retains his or her reasonable expectation of privacy.
   78         (f)(d) “Sexually explicit image” means a digitally forged
   79  intimate image or an any image depicting nudity, as defined in
   80  s. 847.001, or depicting a person engaging in sexual conduct, as
   81  defined in s. 847.001.
   82         (3)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a person who
   83  willfully and maliciously sexually cyberharasses another person
   84  commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as
   85  provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
   86         (b) Upon a second or subsequent a person who has one prior
   87  conviction for a violation of paragraph (a), a person sexual
   88  cyberharassment and who commits a second or subsequent sexual
   89  cyberharassment commits a felony of the third degree, punishable
   90  as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
   91         (4)(a)Except as provided in paragraph (b), a person who
   92  violates paragraph (3)(a) with the intent to cause physical,
   93  mental, economic, or reputational harm to an individual
   94  portrayed in the image, or for the purpose of profit or
   95  pecuniary gain, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable
   96  as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
   97         (b)Upon a second or subsequent conviction for a violation
   98  of paragraph (a), a person commits a felony of the second
   99  degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, or s. 775.083, or
  100  s. 775.084.
  101         (6)(5) An aggrieved person may initiate a civil action
  102  against a person who violates this section to obtain all
  103  appropriate relief in order to prevent or remedy a violation of
  104  this section, including all of the following:
  105         (a) Injunctive relief.
  106         (b) Monetary damages to include $10,000 or actual damages
  107  incurred as a result of a violation of this section, whichever
  108  is greater.
  109         (c)Punitive damages.
  110         (d)(c) Reasonable attorney fees and costs.
  111         Section 2. Subsection (22) is added to section 775.15,
  112  Florida Statutes, to read:
  113         775.15 Time limitations; general time limitations;
  114  exceptions.—
  115         (22)(a)A prosecution for a misdemeanor violation of s.
  116  784.049 must be commenced within 5 years after the commission of
  117  the offense or within 3 years after the date on which the victim
  118  obtains knowledge of the offense or should have obtained such
  119  knowledge by the exercise of due diligence.
  120         (b)A prosecution for a felony violation of s. 784.049 must
  121  be commenced within 7 years after the commission of the offense
  122  or within 3 years after the date on which the victim obtains
  123  knowledge of the offense or should have obtained such knowledge
  124  by the exercise of due diligence.
  125         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2025.