# Criminal Justice Act 1988, Section 160: Possession of indecent photograph of child

Extent: E+W

(1) Subject to section 160A, it is an offence for a person to have any indecent photograph or pseudo-photographof a child . . . in his possession.
(2) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (1) above, it shall be a defence for him to prove—
(a) that he had a legitimate reason for having the photograph or pseudo-photograph in his possession; or
(b) that he had not himself seen the photograph or pseudo-photograph and did not know, nor had any cause to suspect, it to be indecent; or
(c) that the photograph or pseudo-photograph was sent to him without any prior request made by him or on his behalf and that he did not keep it for an unreasonable time.
(2A) A person shall be liable on conviction on indictment of an offence under this section to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine, or both.
(3) A person shall be liable on summary conviction of an offence under this section to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale , or both.
(4) Sections 1(3), 2(3), 3 and 7 of the Protection of Children Act 1978 shall have effect as if any reference in them to that Act included a reference to this section.
(5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/33/section/160 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-justice-act-1988/section-160
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.