Obscenity Charges in Miami

Dennis Gonzalez Jr. is a former Miami-Dade prosecutor who has been defending people since 2012. Everything you tell us is confidential. Our office answers 24 hours a day.

What the State Must Prove

Each of Florida's six obscenity instructions has three elements. The first is the act, and it is what separates the versions:

• 24.1: possessing the material with intent to sell, lend, give away, distribute, transmit, show, transmute, or advertise it.
• 24.2: knowingly designing, copying, drawing, photographing, posing for, writing, printing, publishing, or otherwise making it.
• 24.3: knowingly advertising, or publishing a notice of, where or how it can be obtained.
• 24.4: knowingly hiring, employing, using, or permitting another person to do any of those things.
• 24.5: knowingly possessing it without intent to sell or distribute.
• 24.6: knowingly promoting, conducting, performing in, or participating in an obscene live show before an audience.

The second element is that the material is obscene. The jury must find all three parts:

1. The average person, applying contemporary community standards of the county, would find that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest (a shameful or morbid interest in sex, nudity, or excretion, not a normal interest in sex).
2. It depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way.
3. Taken as a whole, it lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

The third element is that you knew the nature, character, or content of the material. Florida law lets the State prove knowledge through actual knowledge, through circumstances that support it, or through facts that would put an ordinary person on inquiry about the contents.

Penalties

Other rules that matter:

• Possessing three or more identical or similar items is prima facie evidence of a violation of subsection (1).
• Every act or item can be charged as a separate offense.
• In a simple-possession case, the State does not have to prove that you lacked an intent to sell.
• If the material depicts a minor in conduct harmful to minors, the charge is a third-degree felony, and not knowing the minor's age, or the minor's consent, is not a defense.
• 2026 change: since July 1, 2026, simply possessing an obscene child-like sex doll is a third-degree felony (it had been a first-degree misdemeanor), the same as selling or distributing one; a second or later conviction is a second-degree felony (ch. 2026-20).

Section 847.011 is not on Florida's sexual offender registration list. Charges involving minors under other statutes can be. See Harmful Material to Minors and Child Pornography (CSAM).

How We Defend These Cases

• Is it legally obscene? All three parts must be proven. If the material has serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value, it is not obscene, even if it is explicit.
• Community standards. The test is the view of the community as a whole, not what offends one person, one group, or one officer.
• Knowledge and intent. Did you know the content? Was it for sale, or personal possession?
• The search. How the material was found. See Motions to Suppress.

What to Do First

1. Don't discuss the material or your business with police. Ask for a lawyer.
2. Don't destroy anything. That creates new problems.
3. Call us.

Why Choose Dennis Gonzalez Law, P.A.

• Former Miami-Dade prosecutor.
• Defending people since 2012.
• Super Lawyers recognition and an Avvo Rating of 10.0.
• Bilingual office — se habla español.
• We answer 24 hours a day. Call (305) 209-0384.

See our Results page, Sex Crimes Defense and, for federal cases, Federal Obscenity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is adult pornography illegal in Florida?

Not by itself. The law targets material that meets all three parts of the legal definition of "obscene."

Who decides what is obscene?

The jury, using the community's standards, not personal taste.