S. 3398 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Dec 9, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryCriminalizes threats using child abuse images
This bill creates new federal crimes for threatening to share child sexual abuse material in order to intimidate, scare, coerce, or extort someone. The bill also increases prison sentences for related crimes that use such material to threaten or manipulate people. The goal is to target a practice called sextortion, where someone uses these threats to get money, favors, or other demands from victims.
How it affects you
This law would primarily affect people who might be targeted by sextortion schemes. The practical effect is that federal prosecutors would gain new tools to investigate and punish people who use threats of distributing child sexual abuse material to extort or harm others.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Dec 9, 2025)
Stop Sextortion Act
This bill criminalizes threats to distribute child sexual abuse material to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause substantial emotional distress. This practice is commonly referred to as sextortion . The bill also increases criminal penalties for related offenses that involve the use of child sexual abuse material to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause substantial emotional distress.
Specifically, the bill establishes new federal criminal offenses for threatening to distribute child pornography or a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct with intent to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause substantial emotional distress. An offense, or an attempt or conspiracy to commit the offense, is subject to criminal penalties.
Additionally, the bill increases the maximum prison term for various offenses involving the sexual exploitation of children if those offenses involve the use of child pornography or a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct with intent to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause substantial emotional distress.
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 SessionS. 3398
A BILL
Stop Sextortion Act
Sponsor: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) · Introduced Dec 9, 2025 · Crime and Law Enforcement · 1 version of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Dec 9, 2025: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.”