Missouri Sexting Laws: Legal Consequences and Penalties

Missouri has no safe harbor law for teen sexting, so minors who send or receive explicit images face charges under the same child sexual abuse material statutes that apply to adults. Under RSMo 573.037, even possessing a single image is a Class D felony carrying up to seven years in prison.

Overview of Missouri Sexting Laws

Missouri is one of the strictest states in the country when it comes to sexting involving minors. Unlike states such as Texas, Colorado, or California that have enacted specific statutes to treat teen sexting as a misdemeanor or divertible offense, Missouri has no safe harbor law for minors who exchange explicit images.

Instead, Missouri prosecutors rely on the general child sexual abuse material and obscenity statutes found in Chapter 573 of the Missouri Revised Statutes. This means that a teenager who sends a nude photo to a classmate faces the same category of felony charges as an adult who distributes child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

While juvenile courts often handle teen sexting cases with more leniency, the underlying charges remain serious felonies. Understanding these laws is essential for parents, educators, and young people across Missouri.

Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (RSMo 573.037)

The most common charge connected to receiving sexts involving a minor is "Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material" under RSMo 573.037. A person commits this offense if they knowingly or recklessly possess any child sexual abuse material of a person under 18 years of age. Missouri renamed this and the other Chapter 573 image offenses from "child pornography" to "child sexual abuse material" effective August 28, 2026; the elements and penalties were not changed by the rename.

What Counts as Possession?

Missouri courts interpret "possession" broadly. It can include:

• Saving an image on a phone, tablet, or computer hard drive
• Having an image stored in a temporary cache file or browser history
• Keeping images in cloud accounts such as Google Photos, iCloud, or Dropbox
• Receiving an image through text message or a social media app, even without manually saving it

The key legal element is whether the person "knowingly or recklessly" possessed the material. If someone receives an unsolicited image and immediately deletes it without viewing or saving it, that generally does not satisfy the "knowing" element. However, keeping, saving, screenshotting, or forwarding the image does.

Penalties for Possession

The severity of punishment depends on the type and quantity of material:

Each item of child sexual abuse material can be charged separately, meaning a person who possesses multiple images may face multiple consecutive felony counts.

Promoting Child Sexual Abuse Material: Sending or Sharing Images

Sending, forwarding, posting, or even showing an explicit image of a minor to another person falls under Missouri's "Promoting Child Sexual Abuse Material" statutes. Missouri splits this into two degrees based on the age of the minor depicted.

Promoting in the First Degree (RSMo 573.025)

Under RSMo 573.025, it is a crime to promote (distribute, present, or produce) child sexual abuse material depicting a child under 14 years of age.

• Standard Penalty: Class B Felony (5 to 15 years)
• Aggravated Penalty: If the material is knowingly promoted to a minor, the charge becomes a Class A Felony (10 to 30 years or life imprisonment)

No person convicted under this section is eligible for probation, parole, or conditional release for a period of three calendar years.

Promoting in the Second Degree (RSMo 573.035)

Under RSMo 573.035, it is a crime to promote child sexual abuse material depicting a minor under 18 years of age (typically applied when the subject is 14 or older).

• Standard Penalty: Class D Felony (up to 7 years)
• Aggravated Penalty: If the material is knowingly promoted to a minor, the charge becomes a Class B Felony (5 to 15 years)

No person convicted under this section is eligible for probation.

Why This Matters for Teen Sexting

When a teenager sends a nude photo to another teenager, the sender has technically "promoted" child sexual abuse material "to a minor." This elevates a standard Class D Felony to a Class B Felony. A Class B Felony carries the same sentencing range as first degree assault in Missouri, and it sits one class below second degree murder, which RSMo 565.021 classifies as a Class A felony.

Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (RSMo 573.023)

Under RSMo 573.023, a person commits the offense of sexual exploitation of a minor if they knowingly or recklessly photograph, film, videotape, produce, or otherwise create obscene material with a minor, or child sexual abuse material.

This statute applies to the act of creating the material rather than possessing or distributing it. In the context of sexting, this can apply to a person who takes a nude photo of a minor, or even a minor who takes a nude photo of themselves.

• Minor aged 14 to 17: Class B Felony (5 to 15 years)
• Child under 14: Class A Felony (10 to 30 years or life imprisonment)

Furnishing Pornographic Materials to Minors (RSMo 573.040)

In some cases, defense attorneys may negotiate for a lesser charge under RSMo 573.040, "Furnishing pornographic materials to minors."

This statute makes it a crime to furnish material that is "pornographic for minors" to a person under 18. While typically intended for commercial pornography, it can sometimes serve as a plea bargain alternative to the harsher child sexual abuse material statutes.

• Penalty: Class A Misdemeanor (up to 1 year in jail and a $2,000 fine)
• Why it matters: This avoids a felony conviction and typically avoids sex offender registration, making it a crucial option in legal defense strategies for teen sexting cases

Missouri Revenge Porn Laws

Missouri addresses non-consensual image sharing through two separate statutes in Chapter 573.

Nonconsensual Dissemination (RSMo 573.110)

Under RSMo 573.110, a person commits a crime if they:

• Intentionally disseminate an image with the intent to harass, threaten, or coerce another person
• The person depicted is identifiable and is engaged in a sexual act or has intimate parts exposed
• The image was obtained under circumstances where a reasonable person would expect it to remain private
• The sender knows or should have known the person depicted did not consent to sharing

Penalty: Class D Felony (up to 7 years in prison), unless the image was of a minor or of a vulnerable person, in which case it is a Class C Felony (3 to 10 years).

Civil Remedy: The victim can sue for damages. The statute provides for a minimum award of $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees.

Minor Victims Are Covered: Section 573.110 previously required that the person depicted be "at least eighteen years of age," which put minor victims outside the statute. That age floor is gone. Effective August 28, 2026, the elements no longer carry an age requirement, and the penalty subsection reads that the offense "is a class D felony, unless the image was of a minor or of a vulnerable person, in which case it is a class C felony." Conduct involving a minor can still be charged in addition under the Chapter 573 child sexual abuse material statutes discussed above.

Threatening to Disseminate (RSMo 573.112)

Under RSMo 573.112, it is a separate crime to threaten to share someone's private sexual images in order to gain something of value or to coerce the person into acting or refraining from acting. This covers sextortion scenarios.

Penalty: The offense is graded on a tiered scale. It is a Class E Felony for a first offense, a Class D Felony for a second offense, and a Class C Felony for a third or subsequent offense. It is a Class B Felony (5 to 15 years) where the person threatened is a minor or a vulnerable person, or where the threat proximately causes serious physical injury or death.

Enhanced Sextortion Penalties: HB 2273 (2026)

House Bill 2273 rewrote Missouri's image-based exploitation statutes, and the changes took effect on August 28, 2026. Sextorting a minor under RSMo 573.112 is now a Class B Felony carrying 5 to 15 years, rather than the Class E felony that applied before. That is the tier most teen sextortion cases fall into, because the victim is by definition a minor. A teen facing these threats can report them to NCMEC and use its free Take It Down tool to get images removed, both covered in our guide on what to do about sextortion.

The same act removed the adult-only limitation from RSMo 573.110, so nonconsensual dissemination of an image of a minor or a vulnerable person is now a Class C felony. Sections 573.110, 573.112, and 573.114 are cited in the statute as "Evan's Voice Act." Separately, and effective the same date, the Chapter 573 offenses were renamed from "child pornography" to "child sexual abuse material."

Missouri Felony Sentencing Chart

The following table summarizes the authorized prison terms for each felony class under RSMo 558.011:

Defenses and Romeo and Juliet Provisions

No Romeo and Juliet Exception for Images

Missouri's Chapter 566 offenses for physical sexual conduct with a person under 17 include age elements: second-degree statutory rape requires an actor 21 or older, and fourth-degree child molestation requires an actor more than four years older. However, these age rules do not apply to Chapter 573 offenses involving images or videos.

There is no line in any Missouri sexting statute that says "it is not a crime if the parties are within a certain number of years of age." A 16-year-old dating another 16-year-old has no automatic statutory defense for possessing a nude photo of their partner.

Available Defense Strategies

Defense attorneys in Missouri teen sexting cases typically rely on:

• Prosecutorial Discretion: Arguing that filing felony charges against a teenager does not serve the interest of justice in the specific circumstances
• Juvenile Court Diversion: Seeking informal adjustment or diversion programs within the juvenile court system rather than formal adjudication
• Lack of Knowledge: Proving the defendant did not "knowingly or recklessly" possess or promote the material, for example if it was unsolicited and immediately deleted
• Plea to Lesser Charge: Negotiating a plea to Furnishing Pornographic Materials (RSMo 573.040), a Class A Misdemeanor, instead of a felony

Unsolicited Images

If you receive an unsolicited explicit image, you generally do not commit a crime if you did not knowingly choose to possess it. However, keeping it, saving it, screenshotting it, or showing it to others satisfies the "knowing" element. The safest course of action is to delete the image immediately and not respond.

Sex Offender Registration

Missouri has strict sex offender registration requirements under Chapter 589. Convictions for Possession (573.037), Promoting (573.025 or 573.035), or Sexual Exploitation (573.023) typically require registration on the Missouri Sex Offender Registry maintained by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Tier System

Missouri uses a three-tier system under RSMo 589.400:

Juveniles and Registration

Registration is not a matter of judicial discretion. RSMo 589.400 does not give the juvenile court authority to decide whether a juvenile adjudicated delinquent goes on the registry. There are only two routes in for a juvenile.

The first is certification. Under RSMo 589.400.1(4), a juvenile who is certified as an adult, transferred to a court of general jurisdiction, and adjudicated for a qualifying tier I, tier II, or tier III offense must register.

The second is narrow and categorical. Under RSMo 589.400.1(5), a juvenile fourteen years of age or older at the time of the offense must register if adjudicated for an offense "which is equal to or more severe than aggravated sexual abuse under 18 U.S.C. Section 2241." Chapter 573 image offenses do not meet that threshold, so a delinquency adjudication for sexting alone does not by itself place a juvenile on the registry. A juvenile who does register under this provision is assigned a tier under RSMo 589.414 and becomes eligible for removal upon meeting the qualifications in sections 589.400 to 589.425.

Long-Term Consequences of a Sexting Conviction

Beyond potential prison time, a sexting-related charge in Missouri can have lasting effects on a young person's future:

• Education: Suspension or expulsion from school, loss of scholarships, and denial of college admission
• Employment: Difficulty finding jobs due to felony records and background checks
• Housing: Many landlords refuse to rent to individuals with sex offense records
• Military Service: A felony conviction or sex offender registration can permanently disqualify a person from military service
• Social Impact: Listing on the public sex offender registry can lead to community isolation, harassment, and long-term psychological harm
• Professional Licensing: Many professional licenses (law, medicine, education, nursing) may be denied to individuals with felony or sex offense convictions

What to Do If Charged

If you or your child faces an investigation or charges related to sexting in Missouri:

1. Do not delete evidence. Deleting images after an investigation has started can lead to "Tampering with Physical Evidence" charges under RSMo 575.100. This is a Class A misdemeanor by default, but it becomes a separate Class E felony if it impairs or obstructs the prosecution or defense of a felony, which will often be the case in a sexting investigation given the underlying felony charges.

2. Exercise your right to remain silent. Do not speak to police, school administrators, or other parents without a lawyer present. Statements like "I didn't mean to hurt anyone" or "It was just a joke" can be used to establish the "knowing" element of the offense.

3. Contact a criminal defense attorney immediately. The Missouri Bar Association offers a lawyer referral service to help you find an attorney experienced in juvenile or criminal defense.

4. Do not contact the other party. Communication with the other person involved could be construed as witness tampering or obstruction.

5. Preserve the device. Do not factory reset or destroy the phone or computer. Turn it over to your attorney, who can advise on how to handle digital evidence properly.

More Missouri Laws

• Missouri Age of Consent Laws
• Missouri Deepfake Laws
• Missouri Expungement Laws

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Missouri have a specific sexting law for teenagers?

No. Missouri has not enacted a safe harbor or reduced-penalty statute for teen sexting. Minors who send or receive explicit images are subject to the same child sexual abuse material statutes (Chapter 573) that apply to adults. Some states treat teen sexting as a misdemeanor, but Missouri does not.

Can a minor be charged with a felony for sending a nude selfie in Missouri?

Yes. Taking and sending a nude photo of yourself as a minor can technically constitute both Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (RSMo 573.023) for creating the image and Promoting Child Sexual Abuse Material (RSMo 573.035) for distributing it. Both are felony offenses. While prosecution for self-created images is uncommon, the legal risk increases significantly once the image is sent to another person.

Does Missouri have a Romeo and Juliet exception for sexting?

No. Missouri's age rules under Chapter 566 apply only to physical sexual contact, not to the creation or distribution of images under Chapter 573. Two teenagers who are the same age can still face felony charges for exchanging explicit photos.

What should a parent do if they find sexts on their child's phone?

Parents should not forward the images to anyone, including other parents or the police, because forwarding constitutes distribution. The safest approach is to confiscate the device and turn it over to law enforcement directly, or consult a criminal defense attorney immediately before taking any action.

Can sexting lead to sex offender registration in Missouri?

Yes. Convictions for Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (RSMo 573.037) or Promoting Child Sexual Abuse Material (RSMo 573.025 or 573.035) typically require registration on the Missouri Sex Offender Registry. Registration can last 15 years, 25 years, or a lifetime depending on the tier classification. Registration is not discretionary for juveniles: RSMo 589.400 reaches a juvenile only when the juvenile is certified as an adult, or when the juvenile is fourteen or older and adjudicated for an offense at least as severe as aggravated sexual abuse under 18 U.S.C. Section 2241, which Chapter 573 image offenses do not meet. A juvenile certified as an adult and convicted must register.