Gov. Cox signs ‘first of its kind’ bill to outlaw virtual reality sex with minors in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — On Tuesday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed 200 bills into law, including one that officially outlaws the use of virtual reality (VR) to engage in “unlawful sexual activity with a minor.”

H.B. 358 — titled “Criminal Sexual Conduct Amendments” — makes it illegal for an adult to engage in sexual activity in a VR space while knowing the user on the other end is underage.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Verona Mauga, and Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said he believes this bill is “the first of its kind in the nation.” Gill said his office worked closely with Mauga.

“This passage of this bill, for the first time — I think in the country — now creates a criminal charge when you have adults who are targeting children in virtual reality spaces where they’re engaging in sexual contact and sexual conduct in very graphic detail,” Gill told ABC4.com.

The language of the bill defines several terms related to virtual reality, and makes it a criminal offense to commit unlawful sexual activity with a child (14 years old or younger) and to commit unlawful sexual activity with a minor (between 14 and 18 years of age).

In most cases, using VR to engage in sexual activity with a child will be a third-degree felony, but it would be a class A misdemeanor if the person involved is less than 10 years older than the child. Using VR to engage in sexual activity with a minor is a class A misdemeanor.

“We had a law for the sharing of pornography, but not engaging in pornographic acts — which is the virtual space,” Gill said. “So, that’s why it makes logical sense to create this statute and to fill that gap in this evolving cyberspace and virtual reality.”

The law is scheduled to go into effect on May 7, 2025.

Background

According to Gill, H.B. 358 was introduced after a Utah attorney was contacted to conduct a search warrant. A parent discovered her 11-year-old child had fallen asleep with a VR headset on, and when the child’s mother removed the headset, she saw a graphic, sexual chat with an adult.

“As we executed the search warrant, trying to figure out what charge we could charge with, we realized that there wasn’t any statutory fix there — that we had no charges,” Gill said.

Gill said the bill is “consistent with the public policy that we have.” He discussed actions like enticing minors via social media or sharing pornography with children — which are able to be criminally charged.

“When you have individuals who are in this community, who engage in this kind of deviance, they’re purposely choosing and seeking out children, and then creating those avatars to engage in sexual interaction,” Gill said.

Gill said the bill doesn’t affect consenting adults in a VR space. However, it does make it an offense to solicit sexually explicit conduct — actual or simulated — from a “person in custody” (including prisoners, those under correctional supervision, or those under arrest). This section of the bill applies to people knowingly asking for sexually explicit content from people in custody, and violations would be classified as a class A misdemeanor.

“Technology is here to stay,” Gill said. “So, we have to try to stay one step ahead of those who would want to abuse that technology to also be in a predatory way to our children as well.”