CHAPTER 133

OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC MORALS

 

133.01   Houses of ill fame 133.02   Transportation for immoral purposes 133.03   Prostitution; conveyance in vehicles 133.04   Public indecency; indecent exposure

133.05   Obscenity 133.06   Dissemination of harmful material to minors   133.99   Penalty

 

§ 133.01  HOUSES OF ILL FAME.

1. It shall be unlawful for any person to patronize, frequent, be found in, or be an inmate of any house of ill fame or assignation, or place for the practice of prostitution or lewdness.

2. It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or maintain a house of ill fame or assignation or place for the practice of prostitution. Each day such house or place shall be kept or maintained for such purpose shall be deemed a separate offense. 

3. No person shall lease, or permit any building or premises owned by him or under his control to be used, in whole or in part, as a house of ill fame or house of assignation. No person shall lease any building or premises for a lawful purpose, that may afterwards, with his knowledge, be converted, in whole or in part, into the immoral uses and purposes above set forth in this section. Such person shall be subject to a fine for every forty eight (48) hours after the first conviction that he shall continue to violate this section. 

4. Every house of ill fame or house of assignation where men and women resort for the purpose of fornication or prostitution is declared to be a nuisance. 

Penalty, see § 133.99

 

§ 133.02  TRANSPORTATION FOR IMMORAL PURPOSES.

 

It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly direct, take, transport, or offer to direct, take, or transport any person for immoral purposes to any other person, or to assist any person by any means to seek or to find any prostitute or other person engaged in immoral practices, or any brothel, bawdyhouse, or any other place of ill fame. 

Penalty, see § 133.99

 

§ 133.03  PROSTITUTION; CONVEYANCE IN VEHICLES.

1. No person shall knowingly receive any person for purposes of lewdness, assignation, or prostitution into or upon any vehicle or other conveyance or permit any person to remain for any of such purpose in or upon any such vehicle or other conveyance.

2. All prostitutes and solicitors to prostitution, plying their vocation upon the streets, alleys, or public places in the city, are declared to be common nuisances.

Penalty, see § 133.99

 

§ 133.04  PUBLIC INDECENCY; INDECENT EXPOSURE.

1. A person who knowingly or intentionally, in a public place:

1. Engages in sexual intercourse;

2. Engages in deviate sexual conduct;

3. Appears in a state of nudity; or

4. Fondles the genitals of himself, herself, or another person commits public indecency.

2. For purposes of this section, the term NUDITY means the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area, vulva, anus, anal cleft or cleavage with less than a fully opaque covering, the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any part of the nipple, or the showing of the covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.

(Am. Ord. 1965, passed 11-20-95) Penalty, see § 133.99

 

§ 133.05  OBSCENITY.

1. Elements of the offense. A person commits the unlawful act of obscenity when, with knowledge of the nature or content thereof, or recklessly failing to exercise reasonable inspection which would have disclosed the nature or content thereof, he:

1. Sells, delivers, or provides, or offers or agrees to sell, deliver, or provide any obscene writing, picture, record, or other representation or embodiment of the obscene;

2. Presents or directs an obscene play, dance, or other performance or participates directly in that portion thereof which makes it obscene;

3. Publishes, exhibits, or otherwise makes available anything obscene;

4. Performs an obscene act or otherwise presents an obscene exhibition of his body for gain;

5. Creates, buys, procures, or possesses obscene matter or material with intent to disseminate it in violation of this section, or of the penal laws or regulations of any other jurisdiction; or

6. Advertises or otherwise promotes the sales of material represented or held out by him to be obscene, whether or not it is obscene.

2. Obscene defined. Obscene means that to the average person applying contemporary community standards:

1. The predominant appeal of the matter taken as a whole, is to prurient interest; for example, a shameful or morbid interest in sexual conduct, nudity, or excretion;

2. The matter depicts or describes in a patently offensive manner sexual conduct regulated by Ill. Rev. Stat. Ch. 38, § 11-20; and

3. The work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

3. Interpretation of evidence.

1. Obscenity shall be judged with reference to ordinary adults, except that it shall be judged with reference to children or other specially susceptible audiences if it appears for the character of the material or the circumstances of its dissemination to be specially designed for or directed to such an audience.

2. Where circumstances or production, presentation, sale, dissemination, distribution, or publicity indicate that material is being commercially exploited for the sake of its prurient appeal, such evidence is probative with respect to the nature of the matter and can justify the conclusion that the matter, when taken as whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

3. In any prosecution for an offense under this section evidence shall be admissible to show:

1. The character of the audience for which the material was designed or to which it was directed;

2. What the predominant appeal of the material would be for ordinary adults or a special audience, and what effect, if any, it would probably have on the behavior of such people;

3. The artistic, literary, scientific, educational, or other merits of the material, or absence thereof;

4. The degree, if any, of public acceptance of the material in this state;

5. Appeal to prurient interest, or absence thereof, in advertising or other promotion of the material; or

6. Purpose of the author, creator, publisher, or disseminator.

4. Prima facie evidence. The creation, purchase, or procurement or possession of a mold, engraved plate or other embodiment of obscenity specially adapted for reproducing multiple copies, or the possession of more than three (3) copies of obscene material shall be prima facie evidence of an intent to disseminate.

5. Affirmative defenses. It shall be an affirmative defense to obscenity that the dissemination:

1. Was not for gain and was made to personal associates other than children under eighteen (18) years of age; and

2. Was to institutions or individuals having scientific or other special justification for possession of such material.

(Ill. Rev. Stat. Ch. 38, § 11-20) Penalty, see § 133.99

 

§ 133.06  DISSEMINATION OF HARMFUL MATERIAL TO MINORS.

1. Elements of the offense. A person who, with knowledge that a person is a child, that is a person under eighteen (18) years of age, or fails to exercise reasonable care in ascertaining the true age of a child, knowingly distributes to or sends or causes to be sent to, or exhibits to, or offers to distribute or exhibit any harmful material to a child, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

2. Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

1. DISTRIBUTE. To transfer possession of, whether with or without consideration.

2. HARMFUL MATERIAL. Material is harmful if, to the average person, applying contemporary standards, its predominant appeal, taken as a whole is to prurient interest, that is a shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sex, or excretion, which goes substantially beyond customary limits of candor in description or representation of such matters, and is material the redeeming social importance of which is substantially less than its prurient appeal.

3. KNOWINGLY.  Having knowledge of the contents of the subject matter, or recklessly failing to exercise reasonable inspection which would have disclosed the contents thereof.

4. MATERIALS. Any writing, picture, record, or other representation or embodiment.

3. Interpretation of evidence.

1. The predominant appeal to prurient interest of the material shall be judged with reference to average children of the same general age of the child to whom such material was offered, distributed, sent, or exhibited, unless it appears from the nature of the matter or the circumstances of its dissemination, distribution or exhibition that it is designed for specially susceptible groups, in which case the predominant appeal of the material shall be judged with reference to its intended or probable recipient group.

2. In prosecutions under this section, where circumstances of production, presentation, sale, dissemination, distribution, or publicity indicate the material is being commercially exploited for the sake of its prurient appeal, such evidence is probative with respect to the nature of the material and can justify the conclusion that the redeeming social importance of the material is in fact substantially less than its prurient appeal.

4. Affirmative defenses.

1. Nothing in this section shall prohibit any public library or any library operated by an accredited institution of higher education from circulating harmful material to any person under eighteen (18) years of age, provided such circulation is in aid of a legitimate scientific or educational purpose; and it shall be an affirmative defense in any prosecution for a violation of this section that the act charged was committed in aid of legitimate scientific or educational purposes.

2. Nothing in this section shall prohibit any parent from distributing to his child any harmful material.

3. Proof that the defendant demanded, was shown, and acted in reliance upon any of the following documents as proof of the age of a child, shall be a defense to any criminal prosecution under this section: A document issued by the federal government or any state, county, or municipal government or subdivision or agency thereof, including, but not limited to, a motor vehicle operator's license, a registration certificate issued under the Federal Selective Service Act, or an identification card issued to a member of the armed forces.

4. In the event an advertisement of harmful material as defined in this section culminates in the sale or distribution of such harmful material to a child, under circumstances where there was no personal confrontation of the child by the defendant, his employees, or agents, as where the order or request for such harmful material was transmitted by mail, telephone, or similar means of communication, and delivery of such harmful material to the child was by mail, freight, or similar means of transport, it shall be a defense in any prosecution for a violation of this section that the advertisement contained the following statement, or a statement substantially similar thereto, and that the defendant required the purchaser to certify that he was not under eighteen (18) years of age and that the purchaser falsely stated that he was not under eighteen (18) years of age.

 

NOTICE: It is unlawful for any person under eighteen (18) years of age to purchase the matter herein advertised. Any person under eighteen (18) years of age who falsely states that he is not under eighteen (18) years of age for the purpose of obtaining the material advertised herein, is guilty of a misdemeanor under the laws of the State of Illinois.

5. Child falsifying age. It shall be unlawful for any person under eighteen (18) years of age who falsely states, either orally or in writing, that he is not under the age of eighteen (18) years, or who presents or offers to any person any evidence of age and identity which is false or not actually his own for the purpose of ordering, obtaining, viewing, or otherwise procuring or attempting to procure or view any harmful material.

(Ill. Rev. Stat. Ch. 38, § 11-21) Penalty, see § 133.99

 

§ 133.99  PENALTY.

1. Whoever violates the provisions of this chapter, for which another penalty is not already provided, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense.

2. Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of § 133.05 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person who is convicted shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00), or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed six (6) months or by both such fine and imprisonment.