{"data":{"id":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-14-190.1","jurisdiction":"us-nc","citation":"N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-190.1","heading":"Obscene literature and exhibitions.","body":"(a)\tIt shall be unlawful for any person 18 years of age or older, firm, or corporation to intentionally disseminate obscenity. A person, firm or corporation disseminates obscenity within the meaning of this Article if he or it:\n(1)\tSells, delivers or provides or offers or agrees to sell, deliver or provide any obscene writing, picture, record or other representation or embodiment of the obscene; or\n(2)\tPresents or directs an obscene play, dance or other performance or participates directly in that portion thereof which makes it obscene; or\n(3)\tPublishes, exhibits or otherwise makes available anything obscene; or\n(4)\tExhibits, presents, rents, sells, delivers or provides; or offers or agrees to exhibit, present, rent or to provide: any obscene still or motion picture, film, filmstrip, or projection slide, or sound recording, sound tape, or sound track, or any matter or material of whatever form which is a representation, embodiment, performance, or publication of the obscene.\n(b)\tFor purposes of this Article any material is obscene if:\n(1)\tThe material depicts or describes in a patently offensive way sexual conduct specifically defined by subsection (c) of this section; and\n(2)\tThe average person applying contemporary community standards relating to the depiction or description of sexual matters would find that the material taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest in sex; and\n(3)\tThe material lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value; and\n(4)\tThe material as used is not protected or privileged under the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of North Carolina.\n(c)\tAs used in this Article, \"sexual conduct\" means:\n(1)\tVaginal, anal, or oral intercourse, whether actual or simulated, normal or perverted; or\n(2)\tMasturbation, excretory functions, or lewd exhibition of uncovered genitals; or\n(3)\tAn act or condition that depicts torture, physical restraint by being fettered or bound, or flagellation of or by a nude person or a person clad in undergarments or in revealing or bizarre costume.\n(d)\tObscenity shall be judged with reference to ordinary adults except that it shall be judged with reference to children or other especially susceptible audiences if it appears from the character of the material or the circumstances of its dissemination to be especially designed for or directed to such children or audiences.\n(e)\tIt shall be unlawful for any person 18 years of age or older, firm, or corporation to knowingly and intentionally create, buy, procure or possess obscene material with the purpose and intent of disseminating it unlawfully.\n(f)\tIt shall be unlawful for a person 18 years of age or older, firm, or corporation to advertise or otherwise promote the sale of material represented or held out by said person, firm, or corporation as obscene.\n(g)\tExcept as otherwise provided in this subsection, a violation of this section is a Class I felony. A violation of this section committed knowingly in the presence of a minor under 18 years of age is a Class H felony.\n(h)\tObscene material disseminated, procured, or promoted in violation of this section is contraband.\n(i)\tNothing in this section shall be deemed to preempt local government regulation of the location or operation of sexually oriented businesses to the extent consistent with the constitutional protection afforded free speech. (1971, c. 405, s. 1; 1973, c. 1434, s. 1; 1985, c. 703, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 1194; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1998-46, s. 2; 2023-127, ss. 1(a), 3(a); 2023-151, s. 7(a).)","path":["Chapter 14. Criminal Law.","SUBCHAPTER VII. OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC MORALITY AND DECENCY.","Article 26. Offenses Against Public Morality and Decency."],"source_url":"https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_14/GS_14-190.1.html","current_through":"S.L. 2026-30","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T17:56:32Z","sha256":"6dbb705f63d40880ea26954ff33c22b8e54996a5193d1e83b15d927e042287bf","source_id":"us-nc","stale":false,"prev":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-14-189.2-through-14-190","next":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-14-190.2"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}