2009 Missouri Revised Statutes
Title XXXVIII CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT; PEACE OFFICERS AND PUBLIC DEFENDERS
Chapter 568 Offenses Against the Family
568.060. Abuse of a child, penalty.

568.060. 1. A person commits the crime of abuse of a child if such person:

(1) Knowingly inflicts cruel and inhuman punishment upon a child less than seventeen years old; or

(2) Photographs or films a child less than eighteen years old engaging in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation of such an act or who causes or knowingly permits a child to engage in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation of such an act for the purpose of photographing or filming the act.

2. As used in this section "prohibited sexual act" means any of the following, whether performed or engaged in either with any other person or alone: sexual or anal intercourse, masturbation, bestiality, sadism, masochism, fetishism, fellatio, cunnilingus, any other sexual activity or nudity, if such nudity is to be depicted for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification of any individual who may view such depiction.

3. Abuse of a child is a class C felony, unless:

(1) In the course thereof the person inflicts serious emotional injury on the child, or the offense is committed as part of a ritual or ceremony in which case the crime is a class B felony; or

(2) A child dies as a result of injuries sustained from conduct chargeable pursuant to the provisions of this section, in which case the crime is a class A felony.

4. As used in this section, the word "fetishism" means a condition in which erotic feelings are excited by an object or body part whose presence is psychologically necessary for sexual stimulation or gratification.

(L. 1977 S.B. 60, A.L. 1984 H.B. 1255, A.L. 1990 H.B. 1370, et al., A.L. 1997 S.B. 56)

(1985) Held not invalid due to vagueness and does not violate the First Amendment because of overbreadth. State v. Helgoth (Mo.banc), 691 S.W.2d 281.