Wyoming
Riverton Lawmaker Wants To Crack Down On Internet Porn In Wyoming
State Rep. Sarah Penn, R-Riverton, wants to protect women and children by expanding Wyoming’s obscenity laws on creating and distributing pornography.
Penn is proposing a bill that, if passed, would expand the state’s obscenity laws by addressing specific types of pornography and penalties for scenarios where children have been exposed to it on the internet.
The production and dissemination of pornography as a whole is already illegal in Wyoming, aside from publications of “literary, artistic, political or scientific value,” or applications performed in the course of law enforcement and judicial activities.
Penn’s bill, titled “Pornography and Obscentity-Crimes and Penalties,” would specifically add “visual depictions of rape or sexual abuse” to what is considered “obscene material” under the law.
Currently, obscene sexual conduct in Wyoming is limited to depictions people will likely find “patently offensive.”
Penn said the addictive nature of porn transfers the images of these acts portrayed on a screen into people’s real lives.
“This industry lines its pockets when it leaves this content up and they hook minors,” Penn said. “This bill attempts to help them feel the effects of their decisions by way of their pocketbooks.”
And sometimes these pornographic acts are not staged. Productions of rape and child pornography continue to be a growing problem, with many websites allowing users to submit their own content, then making little effort to remove it.
Penn said she is bringing her bill as a way to decrease the rate of this type of content being available on internet porn sites.
“We need to protect our children and those victims of abuse who may continue to be victimized when these images are uploaded,” she said.
Perception
To most people, a depiction of rape or sexual abuse would likely already qualify as obscene material, but that’s not enough, Penn said.
Sitting through a few Wyoming library board meetings recently, Penn said she heard some people defend books containing graphic written and visual descriptions of these types of acts as not being offensive.
“These things are obscene, whether written or visual, and I believe Wyoming should make that statement,” Penn said in an email. “Let it be black and white, no questions.”
Penn’s bill would only pertain to content published to a website and would have no impact on school library books, a topic that was addressed in similar legislation in 2023.
Increased Penalties
The bill also increases penalties for people convicted of publishing obscene material on the internet.
Current law states that if pornography produced or disseminated in Wyoming is viewed by an adult, the person found guilty of producing or disseminating it can receive up to a year in prison and $1,000 in fines. If that pornography is accessed by a child in Wyoming, the penalty is a fine of up to $6,000 and a year in prison.
Penn’s bill greatly increases those punishments, with a fine of up to $1,000 for each day the material is accessible on the internet, and $6,000 for each day it was actually accessed by a child.
The legislation also directs the Wyoming attorney general to provide a way for people to report internet porn, which the state attorney general can then pass off to the U.S. Department of Justice as federal violations of child exploitation and obscenity.
Under the new bill, a person who publishes material to minors on an internet website where more than a third of the content is considered harmful to minors shall be found guilty unless they use reasonable age verification methods to verify the age of the person trying to access the material.
What is considered reasonable age verification are methods that use government-issued identification or any other procedure that reasonably relies on public or private data to verify the age of a user.
Any site found guilty of retaining personal identification material shall be found guilty of a misdemeanor carrying up to a $1,000 fine.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at Leo@CowboyStateDaily.com.
TWO RIVERS, Wis. (WFRV) – The Two Rivers Police Department provided additional information on an ongoing case surrounding a 16-year-old girl who was found in Wyoming after being reported missing on Black Friday.
According to the release, officers responded to check for the missing girl, identified as a 16-year-old from Manitowoc, after her family hadn’t seen her and she had not shown up for work.
Officials learned that she was last seen being picked up from a friend’s house in Two Rivers by a man in a sedan hours before the notification. The Two Rivers Police Department coordinated its investigation with multiple other agencies after learning that the girl was taken out of state.
The following agencies were alerted:
- Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI) – Wisconsin Crime Alert Network
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Nebraska State Patrol
- Wyoming Highway Patrol
- Wyoming DCI
- Manitowoc County Joint Dispatch Center
Several dispatch centers in Nebraska and Wyoming were notified, and on November 29, the Wyoming Highway Patrol spotted a suspect vehicle that held the girl and two men who said they were paid to pick her up and take her to Utah.
The two men were arrested for kidnapping and are reportedly under investigation concerning their immigration status.
Local 5 will provide updates as needed.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Drivers in Cheyenne and throughout southeast Wyoming face slick road conditions and falling snow this morning, with winter weather expected to impact travel throughout the day.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation reports high-impact conditions on several routes surrounding the capital city. Interstate 25 and U.S. Highway 87 are slick with snowfall from the Colorado state line to Cheyenne. North of the city, drivers on I-25 will encounter slick spots, strong winds and blowing snow up to Exit 29 at Whitaker Road.
Travel on Interstate 80 and the Cheyenne Service Road is also affected. WYDOT lists conditions as slick with snow and limited visibility between Exit 335 at Buford and Exit 348 at Otto Road. Other local routes, including U.S. Highway 85 and Wyoming Highway 210, are reported as wet and slick in spots with snowfall.
According to the National Weather Service in Cheyenne, a round of light snow will continue to move through the area this morning. Most locations can expect a dusting to an inch of accumulation, though higher amounts are possible between Rawlins and Cheyenne.
Temperatures remain well below average for early December. The NWS forecast calls for a high near 27 degrees today, with wind chill values between zero and 10. Snow is expected to taper off by this afternoon as a cold front brings drier air into the region.
The cold will deepen overnight, with low temperatures dropping to around 10 and wind chills dipping as low as 5 below zero.
Looking ahead, the NWS predicts a sunny but breezy day Thursday, with westerly winds increasing to 20–25 mph and gusts as high as 35 mph. The long-term forecast calls for an active weather pattern, bringing periods of high winds and chances for light snow through the weekend, followed by a gradual warming trend into early next week.
Detailed Forecast
- Today: A 40% chance of snow, mainly before 11 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 27. North wind 5–10 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
- Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 10. Wind chill values between zero and 10. Southeast wind 5–10 mph becoming west after midnight.
- Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 37. Wind chill values between minus 5 and 5. Breezy, with a west wind 10–15 mph increasing to 20–25 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph.
- Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22. Breezy, with a west wind 20–25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.
- Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Breezy, with a west northwest wind 10–20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
- Friday Night: A 20% chance of snow showers after 11 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22.
- Saturday: A 30% chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 40. Breezy.
- Saturday Night: A chance of snow showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 22.
- Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 41. Breezy.
- Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 26.
- Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 46. Breezy.
- Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 28.
- Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 50. Breezy.
More on the weather is available at the National Weather Service website.
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