Sponsors (2)
The bill extends federal criminal protection and DOJ enforcement to shield adults with cognitive or developmental disabilities from coerced intimate-image sharing and standardizes medical definitions, but it increases federal prosecutions and costs while leaving open legal disputes over who is covered and imposing relatively modest penalties.
People with cognitive or developmental disabilities gain explicit federal criminal protection against being coerced to send intimate images.
The Department of Justice gets a federal enforcement path to prosecute cross‑state coercion using mail or interstate communications, making it easier to pursue perpetrators across state lines.
The bill uses DSM/ICD standards to define covered conditions, promoting consistent medical definitions across cases and reducing variation in who qualifies as a protected adult.
The new federal offense will increase potential prosecutions and related court costs, which may raise taxpayer expenses.
Using medical-condition‑based protections may produce evidentiary and definitional disputes over who qualifies as a “protected adult,” creating legal uncertainty for defendants, courts, and some disabled people.
The statutory maximum penalties are relatively short (1–2 years), which could limit deterrence and leave some victims feeling that consequences are inadequate compared with other sexual exploitation offenses.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal crime for using mail or interstate/foreign commerce to coerce certain vulnerable adults to send intimate images, punishable by up to 1 year (first offense) and 2 years (repeat).
Introduced February 25, 2026 by Haley Stevens · Last progress February 25, 2026
Creates a new federal crime for using the mail or any interstate or foreign commerce to knowingly persuade, induce, entice, or coerce certain vulnerable adults to send or transmit intimate images, or to attempt to do so. The bill defines which adults are protected by listing medical/diagnostic conditions and defines "harm" broadly (physical, psychological, financial, reputational); penalties are up to 1 year imprisonment (first offense) and up to 2 years for repeat offenses, with fines possible. Also directs a clerical update to the federal criminal code table of sections and establishes a short title for the Act. Key definitions refer to the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) or International Classification of Diseases (ICD) adopted by HHS as of the offense date.