H.R. 6715 · Where this bill is now
In the Senate
Passed the House Jan 12, 2026. Received Jan 13, 2026; no Senate vote yet
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryBroadens federal child exploitation criminal laws
This bill expands two federal criminal laws that target child pornography production. Currently, these laws focus on making minors participate in sexually explicit conduct for visual depictions. The bill broadens the laws to also cover depictions where minors are simply present in the material, even if they're not actively participating in the conduct themselves.
How it affects you
This change mainly affects law enforcement and the criminal justice system by giving prosecutors broader tools to pursue cases involving child exploitation. If you're not involved in law enforcement or criminal justice, this doesn't directly change your daily life, but it does modify how federal crimes related to child exploitation are prosecuted.
Read the official summary (Introduced in House, Dec 15, 2025)
Child Predators Accountability Act of 2025
This bill broadens the scope of prohibited conduct under two federal criminal statutes related to the production of child pornography.
Under current law, both statutes prohibit employing, using, persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction or transmitting a live visual depiction of the conduct.
This bill expands prohibited conduct to include employing, using, persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing a minor to be depicted engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The bill also defines the term engage in to include a minor's presence in a such a depiction regardless of whether or not the minor is participating in the sexually explicit conduct.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionH. R. 6715
AN ACT
Child Predators Accountability Act
Sponsor: Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC-8) · Introduced Dec 15, 2025 · Crime and Law Enforcement · 3 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Jan 13, 2026: “Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.”