AMENDMENT 324

Amendment: Section 2G2.1 is amended in the title by inserting "; Custodian Permitting Minor to Engage in Sexually Explicit Conduct; Advertisement for Minors to Engage in Production" immediately following "Printed Material".

Section 2G2.1 is amended by deleting:

"(1) If the minor was under the age of twelve years, increase by 2 levels.";

and inserting in lieu thereof:

"(1) If the offense involved a minor under the age of twelve years, increase by 4 levels; otherwise, if the offense involved a minor under the age of sixteen years, increase by 2 levels.

(2) If the defendant was a parent, relative, or legal guardian of the minor involved in the offense, or if the minor was otherwise in the custody, care, or supervisory control of the defendant, increase by 2 levels.

(c) Special Instruction

(1) If the offense involved the exploitation of more than one minor, Chapter Three, Part D (Multiple Counts) shall be applied as if the exploitation of each minor had been contained in a separate count of conviction.";

and by deleting "Characteristic" and inserting in lieu thereof "Characteristics".

The Commentary to §2G2.1 captioned "Statutory Provisions" is amended by deleting "8 U.S.C. § 1328;"; and by inserting "(a), (b), (c)(1)(B)" immediately following "18 U.S.C. § 2251".

The Commentary to §2G2.1 captioned "Application Notes" is amended in Note 1 by inserting at the end:

"Special instruction (c)(1) directs that if the relevant conduct of an offense of conviction includes more than one minor being exploited, whether specifically cited in the count of conviction or not, each such minor shall be treated as if contained in a separate count of conviction.".

The Commentary to §2G2.1 captioned "Application Note" is amended by inserting the following additional notes:

"2. Specific offense characteristic (b)(2) is intended to have broad application and includes offenses involving a minor entrusted to the defendant, whether temporarily or permanently. For example, teachers, day care providers, baby-sitters, or other temporary caretakers are among those who would be subject to this enhancement. In determining whether to apply this adjustment, the court should look to the actual relationship that existed between the defendant and the child and not simply to the legal status of the defendant-child relationship.

3. If specific offense characteristic (b)(2) applies, no adjustment is to be made under §3B1.3 (Abuse of Position of Trust or Use of Special Skill).";

and in the caption by deleting "Note" and inserting in lieu thereof "Notes".

The Commentary to §2G2.1 captioned "Background" is deleted in its entirety as follows:

"Background: This offense commonly involves the production source of a child pornography enterprise. Because the offense directly involves the exploitation of minors, the base offense level is higher than for the distribution of the sexually explicit material after production. An enhancement is provided when the conduct involves the exploitation of a minor under age twelve to reflect the more serious nature of exploiting young children.".

Reason for Amendment: This amendment revises subsection (b)(1) to provide distinctions for the age of the victim consistent with §2G1.2, and adds subsection (b)(2) to provide an increase for defendants who abuse a position of trust in exploiting minor children. A special instruction is added to conform the operation of the multiple count rule in this guideline with §§2G1.1 and 2G1.2. A revision to the statutory provisions removes 8 U.S.C. § 1328; such offenses are now brought under this guideline by the cross reference appearing in §2G1.2. In addition, the reference in the statutory provisions to 18 U.S.C. § 2251 is made specific to the appropriate subsections.

Effective Date: The effective date of this amendment is November 1, 1990.