Section 13-21-1003 - Civil penalty - action for recovery - distribution of proceeds - attorney fees(1) A person who is found in a civil action brought under this part 10 to have committed computer dissemination of indecent material to a child in violation of section 13-21-1002 shall forfeit and pay a civil penalty established pursuant to verdict or judgment.(2)(a) An action to recover a civil penalty under this part 10 may be brought by any private individual. Venue for the action shall be proper in the district court for the county in which the defendant resides or maintains a principal place of business in this state, or in the county in which the defendant sent the communication, or in the county in which the recipient received the communication.(b) The action shall be brought in the name of the person seeking recovery of the civil penalty.(3) In determining the liability for or the amount of a civil penalty pursuant to this section, the court or jury shall consider the nature, circumstances, and gravity of the alleged violation and the alleged violator's degree of culpability, history of prior violations, criminal convictions, and level of cooperation with any investigation of the alleged violation.(4) No action may be brought or maintained pursuant to this section without the written consent of the child 's parent or guardian, which consent may be withdrawn at any time.(5) A child alleged to be a victim of computer dissemination of indecent material to a child, or his or her parent or guardian, shall have the right to intervene and assume control of any case brought pursuant to this section.(6) In a case in which the court awards a civil penalty pursuant to this section, the court shall order the distribution as follows:(a) In a case brought by a child or other recipient of indecent material as described in subsection 13-21-1002(1), one hundred percent to the plaintiff;(b) In a case brought by a plaintiff other than a child or recipient of indecent material, forty percent to the plaintiff and sixty percent to the child or recipient;(c) In a case initiated by a plaintiff and in which the child's parent or guardian has intervened, eighty percent to the child and twenty percent to the plaintiff.(7) If a plaintiff is awarded a distribution of the civil penalty pursuant to subsection (6) of this section, the court shall award judgment to the plaintiff for the plaintiff's reasonable attorney fees and costs.(8) Nothing in this part 10 shall be construed to limit or abrogate: (a) A criminal action brought to prosecute an act described in the criminal laws of this state;(b) Any right or cause of action that a person, on the person's own behalf or on behalf of another, may have;(c) The ability to include in a civil action brought under this part 10 additional claims that are otherwise permitted by law to be brought in a civil action.L. 2003: Entire part added, p. 1880, § 1, effective July 1.