Committee adopts bill to update Arkansas code language to 'child sexual abuse material'

Representative Fite presented House Bill 1028 and told the Judiciary Committee the measure would change Arkansas statutory language to match terms used by national groups, replacing an older term with "child sexual abuse material," or CSAM. "Child sexual abuse materials or CSAM is the term used by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children," Fite said, adding that prosecutors prefer the term because it emphasizes the underlying crime against a minor.

Fite said the bill was placed in interim study earlier, had passed a joint judiciary committee in the interim, and there was no known opposition. She told the committee that the bill had passed the House unanimously. A committee member endorsed the bill and the committee approved it by voice vote.

Representative Fite thanked the committee after the vote; the committee did not record individual roll-call votes on the transcript.