An Act amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in sexual offenses, further providing for the offense of unlawful dissemination of intimate image; and, in minors, further providing for the offense of sexual abuse of children.
HB 2252 makes it a crime to share someone's intimate image without consent, including AI-generated images that falsely depict them in nudity or sexual conduct. It directly affects individuals whose intimate images are shared non-consensually, whether the images are real or artificially created using AI or photo editing. The law establishes misdemeanor penalties (from second to first degree) based on factors like the victim's age, the sharer's intent (e.g., to harass, profit, or cause harm), and whether multiple images were shared. This bill updates Pennsylvania's sexual offenses law to specifically address the growing threat of AI-generated intimate images, ensuring they face the same legal consequences as real non-consensual image sharing.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Jun 2026
House Passage
Jun 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 26, 2026
Last action Jun 18, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Printer's No. PN2945
→
Printer's No. PN3573
·
4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended to strengthen penalties for unlawful dissemination of intimate images by raising the severity of the crime from a second-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree misdemeanor for non-minors. Additionally, the definition of an 'intimate image' was expanded to explicitly include identifiable individuals, and the act now includes new sentencing enhancements for sexual abuse of children involving specific family relationships.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly cover identifiable individuals in intimate image definitions and to include new sentencing guidelines for child sexual abuse cases involving family members.
REQUIREMENT
Penalties for disseminating intimate images of non-minors were increased from a second-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree misdemeanor.
New sentencing enhancements were added for sexual abuse of children where the victim is a relative of the defendant, such as a stepchild, sibling, or cousin.
DEFINITION
The definition of 'intimate image' was updated to require that the image depict an identifiable individual.
The term 'sexual conduct' was clarified by adding the word 'sexual' to ensure explicitness in the legal definition.
Floor votes · House Jun 9, 2026
How they voted
201–0
Passed
Total votes 201
Jun 9, 2026
D
Democratic102
100% Yea
R
Republican99
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
11
Key actions
4
Committee
5
Jun 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Judiciary
upper
Jun 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Third consideration and final passage
lower
Jun 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Re-reported as committed
lower
Jun 9, 2026
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (201-0)
house
Jun 9, 2026
Committee
Re-committed to Appropriations
lower
May 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported as committed
lower
Feb 26, 2026
Committee
Referred to Judiciary
lower
1 primary · 28 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Emily Kinkead
DDemocratic
Co
Ben Sanchez
DDemocratic
Co
Bob Freeman
DDemocratic
Co
Bob Merski
DDemocratic
Co
Brenda Pugh
RRepublican
Co
Carol Hill-Evans
DDemocratic
Co
Chris Pielli
DDemocratic
Co
Dan Williams
DDemocratic
Co
Danielle Otten
DDemocratic
Co
Danilo Burgos
DDemocratic
Co
Dave Madsen
DDemocratic
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