Section 21.18 is the Texas "sextortion" statute. It criminalizes using a threat to obtain intimate images, sexual conduct, or money — the pattern that has become one of the fastest-growing categories of online criminal investigation.
What the Statute Prohibits
A person commits an offense if the person intentionally threatens, including by coercion or extortion, to commit an offense under Chapter 43 or one of a list of enumerated offenses — including trafficking provisions, continuous sexual abuse, indecency, invasive visual recording, and unlawful disclosure of intimate visual material — to obtain, in return for not committing the threatened offense:
- intimate visual material;
- an act involving sexual conduct causing arousal or gratification; or
- a monetary benefit or other benefit of value.
A parallel subsection covers threats to commit offenses under Chapter 19 (homicide) or Chapter 20 (kidnapping and unlawful restraint), or certain trafficking offenses, to obtain the same categories of benefit.
Penalty
Sexual coercion is generally a state jail felony — 180 days to 2 years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000 — and a third-degree felony where the defendant has a previous conviction under this section.
In practice these cases are rarely charged alone. Prosecutors commonly add unlawful disclosure of intimate visual material, harassment, stalking, and where a minor is involved, offenses carrying far heavier penalties and registration consequences.
Federal Exposure
Sextortion communications almost always cross state lines and occur on platforms that preserve and report content. Federal charges — extortion, interstate threats, and where a minor is involved, offenses carrying mandatory minimums — are common. See our federal criminal defense page. Do not speak to investigators and do not delete anything; deletion supports a separate tampering with evidence charge.
Defenses
No threat to commit an enumerated offense. The statute requires a threat to commit one of the specific listed offenses. Angry or crude messages that do not threaten a listed offense do not satisfy the element.
No intent to obtain a listed benefit. The threat must be made to obtain intimate material, sexual conduct, or something of value. Threats made out of anger, without a demand, fall outside the statute.
Identity. These cases are built on accounts, IP logs, and devices. Account compromise, shared devices, spoofed profiles, and offshore actors using a victim's own images are all realistic and provable alternatives.
Context of the full exchange. The State typically offers selected messages. The complete conversation frequently changes the character of what was said.
Related
- Unlawful disclosure of intimate visual material (21.16)
- Section 21.19 — unlawful electronic transmission of sexually explicit visual material
- Houston federal criminal defense
Charged in Harris County?
Brian Foley is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and a former Harris County Felony Chief Prosecutor; Luis Baez is a former Trial Bureau Chief. Call or text (713) 703-1718 for a free, confidential consultation.