Child Pornography
Section 43.26 of the Penal Code prohibits both possession and promotion of child pornography. The statute was comprehensively amended in 2025 and now covers depictions of both actual children and computer-generated children, including images created with artificial intelligence.
Possession of child pornography depicting an actual child is a third-degree felony at its base level. The penalty increases with the number of images, prior convictions, and whether the depicted child was younger than ten. The most serious possession offenses are first-degree felonies carrying a twenty-five-year minimum. Promotion (distributing, selling, or exhibiting child pornography, or possessing it with intent to promote) is a second-degree felony, increasing to a first-degree felony with a prior promotion conviction.
A conviction requires lifetime sex-offender registration.
How these cases begin
Most state child-pornography cases begin with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which receives reports from internet service providers that detect known child-exploitation images on their networks. The tip goes to local law enforcement, which obtains a search warrant for the suspect’s devices. Forensic examination of computers, phones, tablets, and cloud storage accounts follows.
Defense issues
The central defense questions are knowledge and possession. Did the defendant know that the images were on the device? Did the defendant intentionally download or save them, or were they the result of malware, pop-ups, or someone else’s use of a shared device? Forensic analysis of browser history, download timestamps, file-access logs, and user accounts can support or undermine the State’s theory.
The age of the person depicted is an element that the State must prove. In cases involving images that are ambiguous as to age, the defense challenges whether the State can establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the person depicted is a minor.
See also federal child pornography charges, which carry higher mandatory minimums.
Talk to us
713-224-1747.
If you have been convicted and need an appeal, email us at [email protected].