Law / United States / South Carolina
AI-Generated and Morphed Images of an Identifiable Minor (2025 Act No. 58, S.29)
S.C. Code Ann. §§ 16-15-375(8), 16-15-395, 16-15-405, 16-15-410, 16-15-412
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 22 May 2025.
An AI prohibited practices rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not record, photograph, film, develop, duplicate, produce, or create for sale or pecuniary gain a visual depiction of a minor, or a morphed image of an identifiable minor, including a computer-generated or AI-altered image, engaged in sexual activity or appearing in a state of sexually explicit nudity; this is first degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
- Do not record, distribute, transport, exhibit, receive, sell, purchase, exchange, or solicit such a depiction or morphed image; this is second degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
- Do not possess such a depiction or morphed image; this is third degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
- The depicted minor does not have to be an actual participant in any sexual conduct: a morphed image is one created, adapted, or modified using an actual, recognizable minor's likeness to make it appear that minor is engaged in sexual conduct or sexually explicit nudity, so a synthetic or AI-generated depiction of a real, identifiable minor is covered on the same terms as a photograph.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
First degree sexual exploitation of a minor under Section 16-15-395 is a felony punishable by imprisonment of not less than three years nor more than twenty years, with no part of the minimum sentence suspendable and no parole eligibility until the minimum term is served. Second degree sexual exploitation of a minor under Section 16-15-405 is a felony punishable by imprisonment of not less than two years nor more than ten years, under the same suspension and parole restrictions. Third degree sexual exploitation of a minor under Section 16-15-410 is a felony punishable by imprisonment of not more than ten years.
What it reaches
Obligation class
Prohibition
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
2025 Act No. 58 (S.29), effective May 22, 2025, added a definition of 'morphed image' at Section 16-15-375(8), covering any visual depiction, including a computer or computer-generated image, that has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaged in sexual conduct or sexually explicit nudity.
The same act inserted that term into South Carolina's first, second, and third degree sexual exploitation of a minor offenses (Sections 16-15-395, 16-15-405, 16-15-410), so that producing, distributing, or possessing a morphed depiction of an identifiable minor is punished the same as a real photograph of that minor.
The act also added Section 16-15-412, restricting an arrest warrant for a morphed-image offense to one issued on a state grand jury true bill or a probable-cause finding from an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation conducted with the Attorney General's Office.
When LexLint raises it
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