SB 393 Ohio Senate · 136th Legislature (2025-2026)

Regards sexually oriented offenses involving juveniles, animals

Summary
To amend sections 959.21, 959.99, 2907.04, 2907.05, 2907.321, 2907.322, 2907.323, 2929.14, and 2950.01 and to enact section 2941.1427 of the Revised Code to make changes to various sexually oriented offenses involving juvenile victims and to create the offenses of creating or possessing material depicting sexual conduct with an animal.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2026
Committee Review
May 2026
Senate Passage
May 2026
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Mar 23, 2026 Last action May 27, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

As Introduced As Passed by the Senate · 6 edits · May 20, 2026
MODERATE
The bill was amended to remove references to animal cruelty offenses and instead focus entirely on protecting minors from sexual exploitation. It significantly expanded the definition of child pornography to include 'artificially generated depictions' (deepfakes) of minors and added specific protections for individuals with impaired consent due to age or mental condition. The penalties for these offenses were increased, and new mandatory prison terms were established for repeat offenders and those who commit these crimes while possessing large quantities of illegal material.
Scope change
The bill's scope shifted from a mix of animal cruelty and child protection laws to exclusively addressing sexual offenses against minors and vulnerable adults, while explicitly including AI-generated imagery in its prohibitions.
SCOPE

Removed all provisions related to animal cruelty and bestiality, replacing them with a focus solely on sexual offenses involving minors and impaired persons.

DEFINITION

Added a new legal definition for 'artificially generated depiction' to include images created or edited by artificial intelligence that appear to show real people.

Added 'depiction of a purported minor' to the law, covering images that appear to be of minors even if the actual subject is an adult.

ELIGIBILITY

Expanded the definition of 'impaired person' to include individuals whose ability to consent is substantially impaired due to mental or physical conditions or advanced age.

REQUIREMENT

Established new mandatory minimum prison terms for offenders who possess 100 or more images of child exploitation material.

ENFORCEMENT

Increased penalties for sexual conduct with minors based on the age difference between the offender and the victim, with stricter sentencing for larger age gaps.

Floor votes · Senate May 20, 2026

How they voted

300
Passed
Total votes 30
May 20, 2026
D Democratic8
8 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican22
22 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
6
Key actions
1
Committee
2
May 27, 2026
Committee
Referred to committee
lower
May 26, 2026
Introduced
Introduced
lower
May 20, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed
upper
Mar 24, 2026
Committee
Referred to committee
upper
Mar 23, 2026
Introduced
Introduced
upper
2 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors