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The
PROTECT Act of 2003
Under this law, it
it is a crime, prosecutable
in the United States, for a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien, to
engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign country with a person under
the age of 18, whether or not the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident
alien intended to engage in such illicit sexual conduct prior to going
abroad. For purposes of the PROTECT Act, illicit sexual conduct includes
any commercial sex act in a foreign country with a person under the age of
18. The law defines a commercial sex act as any sex act, on account of
which anything of value is given to or received by a person under the age
of 18. A conviction under the PROTECT Act
can
result in imprisonment for up to 30 years for a first offense. A second
conviction will result in a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
Protection of Children
from Sexual Predators Act of 1998
Under this law, it is a
crime, prosecutable in the United
States, to use the mail or any
facility of interstate or foreign commerce, including the Internet, to
transmit information about a minor under the age of 16 for criminal sexual
purposes that include, among other things, the production of child
pornography. This same law makes it a crime to use any facility of
interstate or foreign commerce, including the Internet, to transport
obscene materials to minors under the age of 16.
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