A. Elements Of The Offense: A person who, with knowledge that a person is a child, is a person under eighteen (18) years of age, or who 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 violating this section.
B. Definitions: 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.
DISTRIBUTE: To transfer possession of, whether with or without consideration.
KNOWINGLY: Having knowledge of the contents of the subject matter, or recklessly failing to exercise reasonable inspection which would have disclosed the contents thereof.
MATERIALS: Any writing, picture, record or other representation or embodiment.
C. 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 designated 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. (Ord. 79-30, 12-17-1979)