James T. Woods Act
Key claim: The James T. Woods Act would expand federal criminal law against online child sexual exploitation by revising CSAM sentencing guidelines, creating offenses for online coercion of minors to commit harm, and criminalizing sextortion threats that use child sexual abuse material.
Abstract
(HR6719 · 119th Congress) James T. Woods Act This bill expands the federal framework for combating the online exploitation of children. Among its provisions, the bill establishes new criminal offenses, expands reporting requirements, and facilitates the prosecution and sentencing of offenders. TITLE I—SAFE ACT Sentencing Accountability For Exploitation Act or the SAFE Act This title directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and amend its guidelines and policy statements applicable to federal criminal offenses involving the production, receipt, transport, shipment, or distribution of child sexual abuse material to (1) account for the actual and potential harm from the offense and changes since the last amendments with respect to the typical offense behavior and modern technologies, and (2) better reflect the spectrum of offender culpability. TITLE II—ENDING COERCION OF CHILDREN AND HARM ONLINE Ending Coercion of Children and Harm Online Act or the ECCHO Act This title establishes a federal framework to combat the online coercion of minors to commit harm. The title creates new criminal offenses, expands reporting of instances involving the online coercion of minors, facilitates the prosecution of offenders, and expands protections for minors who testify in court. TITLE III—STOP SEXTORTION Stop Sextortion Act This title criminalizes threats to distribute child sexual abuse material to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause substantial emotional distress. This practice is commonly referred to as sextortion . The title also increases criminal penalties for related offenses that involve the use of child sexual abuse material to intimidate, coerce, extort, or cause substantial emotional distress. Latest action (2026-03-02): Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 346.
Why this matters
For victims and families, the bill would create explicit federal offenses aimed at sextortion and online coercion of minors — categories that currently rely on a patchwork of extortion, CSAM, and enticement statutes — and would push sentencing guidelines upward for CSAM offenses. Civil-liberties questions include how broadly ‘coercion to commit harm’ is defined, how the sextortion offense interacts with existing extortion and speech doctrines, and whether harsher guideline ranges meaningfully deter offenders. It sits alongside platform-facing measures (STOP CSAM, Sammy’s Law) as the offender-facing side of the online child-safety debate.