Senate BillPassed first house
S 205: Establishes that when an actor threatens to disseminate or publish a still or video image depicting such other person with one or more intimate parts exposed or engaging in sexual conduct with another person, including a still or video image created or altered by digitization, where such person may reasonably be identified from the still or video image itself or from information displayed in connection with the still or video image within the provisions of unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image.
What S 205 does, verified March 12, 2026
The bill aims to strengthen the laws against sharing intimate images without consent. A person can be guilty of this offense if they intentionally share a still or video image of someone with one or more intimate parts exposed or engaging in sexual conduct, with the intent to cause harm. The person depicted in the image must not have consented to its dissemination or publication, and the actor must have known this. This includes images taken with the person's consent but where they had a reasonable expectation of privacy. The bill makes these actions a crime and takes effect immediately.
Bill journey
✓IntroducedComplete
✓In CommitteeComplete
✓First Chamber FloorComplete
4Second ChamberCurrent
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: referred to codes (2026-03-09)Alert me
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions16 total · showing 5
| Mar. 09, 2026 | referred to codes |
| Mar. 09, 2026 | DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY |
| Mar. 09, 2026 | PASSED SENATE |
| Feb. 26, 2026 | ADVANCED TO THIRD READING |
| Feb. 25, 2026 | 2ND REPORT CAL. |
Latest bill textIntroduced version, January 8, 2025 · 347 words
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 205 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. MARTINEZ, ADDABBO, ASHBY, BORRELLO, FERNANDEZ, GALLIVAN, HELMING, MURRAY, PALUMBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to a threat to share an inti- mate image The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 245.15 of the penal law, as 2 amended by chapter 513 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 1. A person is guilty of unlawful dissemination or publication of an 5 intimate image when: 6 (a) with intent to cause harm to the emotional, financial or physical 7 welfare of another person, they intentionally disseminate or publish a 8 still or video image or threaten to disseminate or publish a still or 9 video image depicting such other person, with one or more intimate parts 10 exposed or engaging in sexual conduct with another person, including 11 [an] a still or video image created or altered by digitization, where 12 such person may reasonably be identified from the still or video image 13 itself or from information displayed in connection with the still or 14 video image; and 15 (b) the actor knew or reasonably should have known that the person 16 depicted did not consent to such dissemination or publication, including 17 the dissemination or publication of [an] a still or video image taken 18 with the consent of the person depicted when such person had a reason- 19 able expectation that the still or video image would remain private, 20 regardless of whether the actor was present when such still or video 21 image was taken. 22 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00879-01-5
Text of S 205 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions