Bill Sent to Katie Hobbs’ Desk to Prevent Lewd Videos from Being Created on Government Property

Neil Jones

Senate Bill (SB) 1696, sponsored by State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), has arrived at Governor Katie Hobbs’s (D) desk and is awaiting a final decision.

Should this bill become law, it would prohibit any state entity, including agencies, political subdivisions, cities and towns, or any state contractors, from exposing minors to sexually explicit materials. Furthermore, it prohibits the use of state facilities or property from being used to film explicit acts, such as filming pornography. Any violation of this bill would result in a class 5 felony.

Hoffman (pictured above) said he sponsored this law in response to an incident that occurred in Mohave County in 2022. As reported by Havasu News, the incident involved eighth-grade teacher Samantha Lee at Thunderbolt Middle School. Outside school hours, Lee, and her husband, Dillon Lee, would film explicit videos while still on school grounds and publish them on her online OnlyFans account for sale.

However, some students were able to find this account and began circulating the explicit content. Although her account used an alias, it was reportedly linked to her personal social media pages. At the time, parents in Lake Havasu City said they were concerned by how easy it was to find the account online. Lee resigned after being put on paid administrative leave, followed by some public backlash, and her husband soon followed. She said the pair started making these videos because they needed additional income because of low teachers’ salaries.

“Just last year, two Arizona teachers in Mohave County used government facilities to film pornography which they were then posting and profiting from,” said Hoffman. “Astonishingly, there is no law that prohibits this from happening. These are places where our children go to learn, they should not be locations for the adult entertainment industry. It’s an egregious misuse of taxpayer-funded property, and it needs to end.”

Hoffman’s bill passed through the house and senate along Republican party lines.

Furthermore, if this legislation does become law, it would join two Republican-backed bills recently signed by Hobbs. The first of these was SB 1188, sponsored by State Senator J.D. Mesnard (R-Gilbert), which alters the days a local government cannot prohibit the use of fireworks. A local governing body can currently restrict the sale and use of fireworks, except from June 24th through July 6th and December 24th through January 2nd. However, the December date is now shifted to the 26th through January 4th. During the House Commerce Committee, Mesnard said he had received complaints about noise levels being too high on Christmas Eve, so this bill addressed that complaint.

State Senator David Gowan (R-Sierra Vista) sponsored SB 1197, which is now on the books. This new law removes specific fees that the juvenile court previously could enforce on the child or parent. Some of these fines include the cost of attorney services, the cost of foster care, family counseling service fees, or expenses surrounding the child’s medical care while in the custody of the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections (ADJC). Additionally, if a juvenile fails to pay any of the aforementioned fees, that cannot be used as a reason to continue ADJC supervision.

However, the law does not roll back victim resolution fines, and fines can still be charged in association with certain transportation-related crimes, such as driving under the influence. Any of these fines placed on a juvenile before the enactment of this law will be vacated once it is in effect.

Both of these bills passed the legislature with bipartisan support.

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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Arizona Capitol” by Wars. CC BY 2.5.

 

 

 

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